


No Heart for me like yours

by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dubious Consent, F/M, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:23:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28806516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Fumbles_McStupid/pseuds/Dr_Fumbles_McStupid
Summary: When Trunks and Goten wish for all the Saiyans to get their tails back it leads to bigger complications than anyone planned for. With an unexpected heat, and emerging feelings for a certain Prince, will Gohan be able to navigate oncoming parenthood and the complications of polyamory?
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Son Gohan/Vegeta, Videl Satan/Son Gohan
Comments: 19
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from the Maya Angelou poem
> 
> “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.  
> In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”

It had started out as an ordinary day at capsule corp, well as normal as days as capsule corp got. Bulma had finally convinced Gohan to take up an internship there after weeks of telling him how good it would look on his college resume. He had finally broken when his mother had joined in the cajoling. So he had started helping Bulma in her personal lab before and after school. Which is where he is today. Doing some of the fabrication for project H4 when Bulma shrieks and drops something to the floor with a clatter.

He drops what he is doing and gets into a fighting stance scanning the room for threats, when he senses none he turns to Bulma. “Everything okay Bulma?” She still looks a little shaken but she steps forward and reaches behind Gohan and grabs something, something that he can feel. “What the…” and she pulls it forward ….. His tail! “What the… how did this?” He starts in confusion but trails off.

Bulma drops his tail and Gohan grabs it himself to examine it. “ Your Dad’s tail grew back a few times, but never when he was this old. But maybe…” and just as Bulma was about to speculate further an explosion rocks the living quarters of capsule corp. Bulma and Gohan give each other a look and then make their way towards the source. As they get closer they see it came from the gravity room. There is no visible damage on the outside but when Bulma calls through the intercom there is no response, so she overrides the system and opens the door.

The first thing that meets his eyes is the whole aft wall is scorched and just barely holding together. But then his eyes track down and he finds Vegeta sitting on the floor holding his tail in his hands Gohan has a slowly growing suspicion that someone made a wish on the dragon balls and he has a pretty good guess on who is behind it. As soon as Vegeta sees them enter he stands up and wraps his tail around his waist. He opens his mouth to talk and then closes it when he sees Gohan’s tail waving behind him.

“Well, there goes the theory that your tail grew back naturally,” Bulma says ruefully. Just as Vegeta says “Where are Trunks and Goten.”

Gohan closes his eyes and scans the compound and goes as far out as the city limits and when he doesn't find them he says “I don't sense them nearby, I think we should get in contact with my Dad, both to see if he has his tail back, and to quickly collect the kids.”

Vegeta nods in agreement and walks by both Bulma and Gohan as he leaves the gravity room. Gohan sighs and pulls out his cell phone. He dials home and it picks up on the first ring. “Hey Mom, is dad home?”

  
  


* * *

His mom had not been happy in the least to find out that not only did Goku have his tail back, but Gohan did as well and Goten likely did as well. She insisted that Goku bring her to capsule corp before he went out to collect the troublesome duo. Gohan was incredibly thankful that Bulma had managed to distract Chi-Chi from fussing over him with talks of how Goten and Trunks were going to be punished. He had taken the opportunity to leave and walked into the adjoining room where he found Vegeta. The other man was standing in the corner looking off into the horizon. The higher levels of the building had a beautiful view through the shining spires of the skyscrapers of West city. Gohan walked over to join him and caught the scent of something unfamiliar, something dark and woodsy. He looked around but couldn’t find where it was coming from. He shrugged and turned to Vegeta.

“I know this isn't the most convenient timing, but are you glad to have your tail back?” Gohan inquired. Vegeta looked at the younger Saiyan without turning his head and then returned his gaze to the city. ‘While I would not have chosen this myself, it is true that a Saiyan is not complete without his tail.” He stated proudly, Gohan waited for him to continue but he stayed silent and seemed to deflate.

“I know the threat of going Oozaru is one we can't ignore, but that doesn't mean we have to cut them off again. Goten and Trunks are old enough that we can probably get them to stay inside during the full moons.” Gohan says while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't ever think he would be in a position to actually have to comfort Vegeta. He knows the prince is only, for a lack of a better word, human. And in retrospect, the loss of his tail, one of the last links to his dead race must have been a terrible blow and he finds he wants to do whatever he can to let the man keep it. “Plus my Dad is pretty fond of his tail, now that he has it again, I don't even think my mom could convince him to get rid of it.”

Vegeta finally turns to look at Gohan and there is something inscrutable in his eyes when he asks “And you boy, would you keep your tail? Or cut it off to blend in with the humans you love so much?”

Gohan takes a breath and bites back his immediate response and actually thinks about what he wants to say. “You know I don't actually know that much about my heritage, the Saiyan half that is, what with my Dad’s memory loss, I never had anyone to ask. But I would like to know more about my Saiyan half. I blend in really well as a human, and I know that pisses you off, you think I’m ashamed of my Saiyan half, and maybe for a while I was, but when I saw what you Raditz and Nappa did, how death followed you like a shroud, I never wanted that. But I see you now and how you are so proud of your race, and how you are a protector now instead of a destroyer and I think maybe being a Saiyan isn’t that bad. I want to learn if you would be willing to teach me. It’s important to document the past, and I know you think my wanting to be a scholar is a disgrace, but in this case, it could be a benefit, I could record your” He stumbles for a moment “our heritage for posterity, and so no one can ever forget.” 

Vegeta looks taken aback by the sincerity in Gohan's voice and he opens his mouth to respond but then closes it not knowing what to say. The silence stretches out for a long moment before Gohan laughs nervously and says “ And I’m not exactly a boy anymore, I turned 18 three months ago, some people would say that makes me a man.”

That seems to break the serious mood and Vegeta looks back at Gohan and smirks, “If you say you are a man, be prepared to be treated like one.” And there is something predatory in Vegeta's eyes, in the stance of his body, but before the Prince can say something more there is a sharp popping sound and Goku appears with one hand on Goten and Trunks shoulders, each one of them has a tail waving behind them and Gohan does a double-take, and yep Trunk’s tail is definitely purple. The boys are vibrating with excitement and Goten wriggles his way over to Gohan.

“Look Gohan, I have a tail now!” He says excitedly.

“I Know squirt, so does everyone else,” he says as he ruffles Goten’s hair. “I assume this is your guys’ doing.”

And here Trunks nods emphatically. “Yeah, we borrowed the dragon radar and made a wish! The dragon was so cool and-” But before he can finish Bulma and chi-Chi walk into the room disapproval practically rolling off of them in waves. “Uh, hi Mom!” Trunks says nervously while Goten just tries to hide behind Gohan.

“Don't you dare mister, you are going to answer for your actions, and your older brother won’t be able to protect you from the consequences of your own actions.” Chi-Chi scolds and Goten sulkily comes out from behind his brother to face his mother’s wrath.

“So who said you could borrow the dragon radar?” Bulma asks, arms folded and foot tapping.

“No one said we couldn’t” Trunks mumbles defiantly, holding the dragon radar close to his chest.

“Don't even try to pull that one buster” Bulma growls as she snatches the Dragon radar out of his hands. “You know damn well you need to ask permission to borrow things. Just because no one said you couldn't doesn't mean you have permission.”

“And Goten.” Chi-chi tags in “Did you think to ask anyone else if they wanted their tails back? This wish doesn't just affect you. What is Gohan going to say to his friends at school when he suddenly shows up with a tail?”

“I Didn’t think about that,” Goten says with tears in his eyes. “Are you mad at me Gohan?”

And Gohan was a bit miffed, but seeing his brother’s tear-stained face makes him deflate. “No, I’m not mad Goten, but I am concerned. Now none of us will be able to go outside when the moon is full, we Can’t just destroy the moon again, the last time it was done it put a lot of stress on a lot of different ecosystems and a lot of people had to work very hard to make sure some animals didn't go extinct.” Gohan explains.

Bulma opens her mouth to continue but Trunks interrupts her. “We just wanted tails, we didn’t want to turn into big dumb monkeys.” He says and Vegeta looks sharply at his son, probably he was going to explain the proud tradition of Oozaru or something, but Goten interrupts.

“Yeah, we didn’t want to accidentally hurt someone so we asked the dragon to make it so Earth’s moon wouldn't do that anymore,” Goten says proudly.

Chi-Chi deflates a bit, not quite as angry anymore. “And that was very smart of you boys, but it was still wrong of you to do this without asking the others first.”

Trunks perks up at that sensing that the scolding is about done and that they are probably going to get off lightly, but Goten still looks distressed.

“Aw Chi,” Goku cajoles “I don't mind, I’m glad I have my tail back, I’m sure Vegeta feels the same” Vegeta just makes a tch noise but doesn't disagree. “See everything’s fine.

“Just because you two lug-heads don’t care doesn’t mean everything is alright, what about Gohan?” Chi-Chi gestures towards him. And Goten once again looks like he is going to cry.

“Well I won't lie, this definitely is gonna make things harder at school” Goten sniffles and tears start running down his face. “But” Gohan quickly continues, “I’m not mad, having my tail back is sort of cool. Next time before you do something like this just remember to ask.”

Goten wipes his face and nods. “Okay brother, I will.”

“Now about your punishment” Bulma starts.

“What that's not fair, everything worked out.” Trunks yells pointing at all the Saiyans around the room.

“You still took the dragon radar without asking, AND left the premises without telling anyone, AND made a wish without permission. So one week of grounding. And don't complain, I think you’re getting off pretty lightly.” Bulma says.

“But, But,” Trunks says looking around the room, his eyes land on his father and he gestures towards his mom.

Vegeta snorts “Don't ask me, I would have grounded you for longer. Is that what you want?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.

“No, no” Trunks shakes his head emphatically, “One week is fine.”

“And the same goes for you Goten,” Chi-Chi says. “Even though everything turned out all right, what you did was still wrong. During your grounding I want you to think about what you did okay?”

“Okay, mom” Goten quietly agrees.

“Now come here and give me a hug, you scared me to death,” Chi-Chi says as she crouches down and holds her arms out. Goten runs into his mom’s arms and hugs her fiercely.

After a moment Chi-Chi stands up and puts her hand on Goten’s shoulder. “Well, now that everything’s sorted I think we should be going home. Goten ran out on his studying and Goku you still have some farming to do.”

“Aw man, but Chi-Chi,” Goku whines “I was gonna see if Vegeta was up for a spar! I haven't gotten to spar in forever!” He pleads.

“Go home with your wife Kakarot, we can spar tomorrow.” Vegeta placates him.

“That sounds great, okay then Chi-Chi, let’s go! Gohan you coming with us?” he asks.

“No, Bulma and I were in the middle of something when this all started. I’ll probably be spending the night here for the next few days, I’ll see you guys on the weekend. Okay?” Gohan says

“Sure thing son, see you later!” Goku replies cheerily and with a pop, they were gone. Bulma and Gohan make their way back to the lab, but not before Gohan sent one last curious look at Vegeta, wondering if the man would take him up and teach him about his other half.

  
  


* * *

The day after the incident happened he took Videl aside at her place and showed her his tail. He expected a freak-out or something, and she was shocked but calmed quickly. “It makes sense, the footage of your father in the twenty-first and twenty-second worlds martial arts tournament show him with a tail. What happened to it, you obviously weren't hiding it til now.”

Gohan blushes at the reminder that they had been intimate, “Well it was cut off, Saiyans with tails turn into a giant ape under the full moon so it was deemed too dangerous.” Videl turned green so Gohan rushed to assure her “For Goten and trunk’s second wish they asked to make it so Earth’s moon won't affect us that way. So there's nothing to worry about.”

“Can I touch it?” Videl asked softly, eyeing the new appendage.

“S-Sure.” Gohan said nervously “Just be careful, It’s really sensitive.” Videl leaned forward and took it in her hand and gently pet it.

“Wow, It’s so soft!” she exclaimed. Then she looked up at Gohan through hooded eyes and said softly “Wanna find out just how sensitive it is?” And Gohan turned the shade of a ripe tomato. 

“I - I um, Okay, sure if you want to,” he said stumbling over his words.

Videl laughed. “Your so bashful about this, we’ve done this before, more than once,” she said.

“I’m sorry I can-” Gohan started but Videl interrupts him.

“Don’t be sorry, it’s cute.” Then she grabbed his hand and led him up to her bedroom.

* * *

The rest of the week passed in a blur, at school he hung with Videl and her friends and took notes diligently even though he knew most of the material already, he spent most evenings after school at capsule corp. Every once and a while he would catch that woodsy scent again and try to locate it but he could never pinpoint it. All he knew was it made him feel warm, set his stomach swooping, and made his head dizzy.

When he went home that weekend Gohan was ecstatic to have someone to play with so he spent a large portion of his time either sparing or playing with his younger brother. That Sunday Goten scrunched up his nose and told Gohan “You smell funny.”

Gohan sniffed his underarms, but he had just taken a shower so it wasn’t body odor.” Do I smell bad?” he asked, maybe he should change his shampoo or his soap.

Goten shook his head. “No not bad, just funny. Ever since Trunks and I wished our tails back My Nose smells things a lot better, so maybe you’ve always smelled like this and I never noticed, but you smell sweet, Like flowers. Dad’s noticed it too.”

Gohan tried smelling himself again, but he couldn't find the smell, so he shrugged it off and took a fighting stance again. Okay then squirt don’t let my delightful smell distract you from the fight, I want to win fair and square.

Goten jumped up from his sitting lotus position and protested “You aren’t gonna win at all Gohan. I’M Gonna beat you!”.

* * *

The weekend passed by in a blur and soon enough he was packing his stuff to go back to capsule corp. “Gohan do you have to stay there, why can’t you just commute? “ Chi-Chi asked, wringing her hands worriedly.

“Mom, we’re close to a breakthrough in this project and every second helps. so staying there is only logical. You want me to get into a good college right?”

“Yes but I miss you, I miss having my baby boy around the house.” She said tearfully

“Aw mom, I promise to come home this weekend, and I’ll make sure we get some quality time together okay?” Gohan said, pulling his tearful mother into an embrace. 

“Okay Gohan, but listen here, if you don’t come home next weekend I’ll give you what for, ya hear?” she said jabbing his chest with her pointer finger.

“Yes Mom, now I gotta go, I need enough time to get to Bulma’s before school starts okay?”

Chi-Chi sighed. “Okay, be safe!” 

“I will mom” and then Gohan was out of the house making his way to capsule corp.

* * *

Gohan was surprised when Vegeta approached him that Thursday. But he was ecstatic to actually start learning about Saiyan culture.

“Hold on, let me get a notebook and a pen,” Gohan said, scrambling to his backpack. Vegeta made a face but didn’t start until Gohan had returned to his seat.

Vegeta leaned against the wall with his arms crossed looking away from Gohan but addresses him nonetheless. “What do you want to know?” he asks. And Gohan has to wait a minute to think, there is so much he doesn’t know, this is a whole different culture and he doesn’t know where to start. He thinks of Videl and blushes.

“What can you tell me about courting customs and marriage.” The idea of sharing that part of his culture with Videl makes him feel warm all over.

“On planet Vegeta the strongest were the most desirable mates, this earthling obsession with looks and love “he scoffs “ was not something Saiyans bothered with. And Gohan can believe that strength was desirable among Saiyans, but the way Vegeta treats Bulma clearly proves that love does have some part to play in Saiyan relationships. He decides not to bring that up because if he does it will start a fight and Gohan would rather hear more about his culture than debate the finer points of the Prince’s relationship with his wife.

“So strength was king in looking for a partner-”

“A mate” Vegeta interrupts.

“A mate,” Gohan continues smoothly, “What did a courtship consist of?”

Vegeta looks contemplative for a moment. “I was young when I left planet Vegeta so I never got to witness a drawn-out courtship myself, but I was taught the basics. The vast majority of Saiyan courtships were short. The beta would challenge an alpha to a fight, and if they won they would fuck.”

Gohan takes note of the terms Vegeta is using for males and females and makes a note to ask for further clarification on them later. He also blushes furiously at the crude term Vegeta uses to describe being intimate.

“What boy, does frankness embarrass you?” then Vegeta smirks deviously “Or does the idea of fucking embarrass you, have you not made it that far with your woman?”

Gohan’s blush deepens and travels from his ears all the way down his chest. “I- no, that’s not- that’s none of your business Vegeta.” Gohan stammers waving his hands frantically, the pages of his notebook ruffling as he does so. Vegeta throws his head back and laughs at the display, and a small part of Gohan notes that the Prince looks good when he is amused. He wonders what he would look like if he was truly happy. He banishes those thoughts from his mind and clears his throat. ‘Anyway, my love life isn’t the topic at hand, we were talking about Saiyan culture.

Vegeta looks like he is going to push the issue, but thankfully he lets it go and returns to the topic at hand. “Not every coupling ended in a mating bond. Many Betas and alphas would stay together until the child was old enough to fight and then go their separate ways.” 

“What age was that?” Gohan asks, furiously writing in his notebook.

“Six or seven, sometimes ten if a beta was particularly sentimental” Vegeta clarifies. And Gohan’s stomach sinks, apparently, he was left on his own to learn to fight even earlier than an all warrior race would send their children off. He tucks that bit of information far away as something to process later. “Of course there were children like your father who were sent off at a young age as invasion babies, but those were usually less promising children.”

“Was it always like that?” Gohan asks “I mean were” He pauses and swallows down his distaste “less powerful children always sent away?”

Vegeta pauses to think for a moment. “I think the practice was started when we partnered with the Planet trade organization. But that was long before my time so I don’t know how they were treated before then.”

Gohan has a sharp pang of loss, not only was a whole culture wiped out in a moment, but all their writings and histories, Vegeta could tell what he knew, but there was still so much lost to the ether. The younger man composes himself and continues with the conversation. “So what did the people who did decide to stay together do?”

“There were different customs depending on what class the Saiyans were. I know third classes had a small ceremony, but what it entailed I don't know. Elites generally had a lot of arranged unions that would start with statements of intention and trading of small gifts, The royal family did this as well but on a larger scale.” Vegeta says thoughtfully.

“And what did a marriage ceremony consist of?” Gohan asks, looking up from his notes and meeting Vegeta’s gaze.

The Prince waves his hand dismissively “ Saiyans didn’t get married, they had mating ceremonies. There was an exchanging of vows and then they would exchange marks.”

Gohan stops writing and asks curiously “Marks?”

“A mating bite.” Vegeta motioned to his shoulder, they parties would bite each other here, deep enough to leave a scar. It would signal to others that they were taken. Mating was also seen as a battle of sorts,” Vegeta smirks here “Betas could be rough in bed, leaving behind marks, sometimes scars in the heat of the moment. So the bite was seen as a mark of victory over that particular battle.” Gohan blushes and squirms in his seat, and he starts to get the feeling that embarrassing him is amusing to Vegeta, so he fights his blush as best as he can.

“The mark was more than symbolic, I was taught it was a mechanic born of survival. Planet Vegeta was a harsh place, and the linking of the minds the bite afforded helped a mate know if their partner was in danger.”

Gohan's head shot up and his body jolts in shock. “Wait you mean there is a telepathic component to this bond!” He says fumbling to recover his pen.

“So I have been told. I have never experienced it myself.” Vegeta confirms.

Gohan has a whole slew of questions, but his mind focuses on the fact that hesaid he had never experienced it. He wants to ask why he never bonded with Bulma but before he can open his mouth he thinks better of it, that sounds like it would be a touchy topic, so he decides to continue the conversation with something else. But before he can speak a sharp pop resounds in the room and his dad appears.

“Hey Vegeta, you ready for that spar?” Goku asks, bouncing in excitement.

“I guess that brings our lesson today to an end,” Vegeta says dismissing Gohan, then walks over to his dad. “I assume you have picked out an appropriate spot?” he says while offering his arm.

“You bet!” Goku says and grabs Vegeta’s arm. They disappear in an instant without Goku even saying hello to his son. Gohan rolls his eyes, that’s his dad for you. He closes his notebook and stands up stretching. 

“Well better get back to working with Bulma, that healing pod Isn’t going to build itself,” he says to himself and heads off to the Genuis’ lab. 

  
  


* * *

Gohan felt off. His body felt amped up like it was waiting for something, and he felt hotter than normal like he was running a fever. He had tried taking a cold shower, and he got some relief from it, but his body still felt like a live wire, and his body heated up soon after. He had excused himself from Bulma’s lab the third time he accidentally soldered a wire to the wrong circuit, telling Bulma he needed to clear his head. At first, he had tried to take a nap, but his mind was rushing and his body wouldn’t relax. So he decided to talk a walk around capsule corp. The facility was huge and hopefully, some movement would help.

On his walk, he caught that earthy scent that he had been smelling on and off the whole time he had been there and this time he stopped to inhale it, it was divine, he knew instinctually that whatever the smell was, it would help with his fever and the tenseness in his body. So he followed it and it got stronger and stronger. Eventually, it led him to the gravity room and it hit him, it was Vegeta’s scent. And then another thought floated through his mind, A fight would be a great way to get all this excess energy out. So he turned the comm on and said “Vegeta, It’s Gohan, would you let me in?” He waited for a few minutes, but when the pressure valves didn’t hiss to let the gravity restabalize, Gohan growled. He wanted, no NEEDED, to be in that room.

A wave of unreasonable anger was building in him, he had enough sense left to not break down the door, although a growing part of him said that that would be a fantastic idea, it would get him inside and it would get Vegeta’s attention. But he crushed that part down and opened the panel at the side of the door. Bulma hadn’t given him the override code, but he knew enough about the machine to override the controls and make the door open so he did just that.

In a few minutes, the valves hissed as the pressure was reset to normal and the door swung open. Gohan quickly stepped inside and was met with an irate prince. “What the hell do you think your doing brat” he yelled, and Gohan knew that he was taller than the man, but having him right up in his face, spitting angrily was just a reminder of it. The blood started pumping through his veins faster and faster and finally, he picked up his right hand and let loose a punch at Vegeta’s face. Vegeta wasn’t expecting it and he took the full force of the hit. He skidded back a few feet. After a moment The prince stood back up to his full height and spat some blood out of his mouth.

“Unless you want to get a beating that would make Buu look like playtime you need to leave now.” Vegeta said, fire burning in his eyes and all Gohan did was smile back at him viciously, and then faster than the eye could follow he was on him. Letting loose another punch followed by a knee to the stomach. Veget caught both of them and smirked.

‘Do you really think you are a match for me boy? You haven't trained seriously since before Cell.” Vegeta taunts, but all Gohan does in response is bare his teeth and headbutted Vegeta to make some space between them. Vegeta let him make the space and returned his feral grin.

Gohan appears in the air over Vegeta going for a downward strike but the prince easily dodges it, and that should make Gohan mad, having his attacks being evaded so easily, but for some reason, it only makes him more excited. His distraction costs him as Vegeta grabs his leg and slams him to the ground, knocking the air out of him, he moves to roll out of the way, but Vegeta was right, the older Saiyan outclasses him in every way, and he pins him, grabbing both of his wrists with one hand and keeps his hips down with his thighs. And at that it’s like something in him is at peace, he feels no need to fight back, his whole body relaxes and he feels the need to concede completely, so he bared his neck, and after that everything goes fuzzy.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as he pins Gohan to the ground all the fight leaves him, his body goes limp and the younger Saiyan doesn't even try to buck Vegeta off, which is strange, Gohan has trained enough with Piccolo to know the hold isn't as steady as it could be, escape could be possible. But Gohan just lays there motionless. As soon as Vegeta Meets the younger Saiyan’s eyes, Gohan bares his throat to Vegeta. It isn’t the usual three hits to the ground that they use to concede a spar, but somehow Vegeta instinctively knows it is just the same. He stands up and offers Gohan a hand and that is when he smells it. He had noticed that Gohan had smelled different lately, spicier, but he had attributed it to the return of the younger man’s tail, but what was once a subtle musk is now an overpowering sweetness. Gohan takes his hand and uses it not only to pull himself up but to pull Vegeta into his space. Alarm bells are ringing in Vegeta’s head as Gohan moves closer and closer, and the bells turn to full-on sirens when he sees how glazed the younger man’s eyes are. 

Vegeta takes a step back and releases Gohan’s hand, trying to put some space between them, and Gohan whines in distress and closes the space between them again, plastering his body up against Vegeta's. Gohan tilts his head and kisses Vegeta. The Prince is so shocked he stands frozen. Gohan takes advantage of the situation and breaches his mouth with his tongue and deepens the kiss. It takes a second, but Vegeta’s brain kicks in and he gently pushes Gohan away again. And it finally all clicks. Gohan is in  _ heat _ , Gohan is a  _ beta  _ and he is in heat. His first heat. Vegeta’s mind whirls as he tries to come up with a plan, it’s hard to think with that delicious smell surrounding him and Gohan trying to press in closer. But after a minute or so he decides on a course of action.

He leaves the gravity room and as he suspected, Gohan follows, making high pitched whining noises every so often, and god, Vegeta realizes he isn't even really there. Vegeta had heard stories of Beta’s losing themselves in their first heats, but he had thought it was just that, a story, he had never imagined it would be like this. Seeing someone as smart and headstrong as Gohan stripped down to his baser instincts is … he shudders. He leads Gohan through the hallways until he reaches his goal. He stops in front of one of the guest rooms, and ushers Gohan inside, he goes easily, but when Vegeta slams the door and locks it his whining gets more insistent, and after a few moments his whining changes to growls of frustration.

Vegeta sags against the door. The problem isn't solved really this is just a stop-gap. The door starts shaking as Gohan pounds on it. But he won't be able to get through. The whole room has Ki leeching properties and the door is reinforced. Vegeta gratefully thanks Bulma’s foresight. After the whole Majin incident, Bulma thought it prudent to have a place to keep someone if they lost control of themself, and Vegeta agreed.

Bulma came out from around the corner, face contorted in anger as she asked “what the hell is going on Vegeta, I could hear that yelling all the way from my lab. Is that … is that Gohan?”

Vegeta sighs and runs his hand down his face. “Woman, we have something of a … situation, We need to talk.”

* * *

“Okay, Vegeta start talking,” Bulma says, her arms are folded and her eyebrow is twitching, she is on the edge of losing her patience and that is the last thing he needed right now.

“On planet Vegeta, there were two genders,” he starts but Bulma, clearly impatiently interrupts her.

“I know, male and female, we have them here too.”

Vegeta clenches his teeth so hard they hurt. “No, if you would actually let me talk, I would explain it to you. Yes, we have people that resemble males and females, but the genders were separated by who could and could not give birth. The Alpha’s sired children and the Betas bore them. There were some Betas who resembled earth males who could both bear and sire children.

Bulma’s eyebrows rose, she wasn't called a genius for nothing. “So Gohan is one of those Beta’s. Is that why he's screaming and causing a ruckus in the containment room?” She asked

Vegeta nodded. “Yes, once Beta’s come of age every five to seven years they go into heat.

Bulma’s eyebrows raise even higher. “In Heat, like a cat? Are you saying Gohan is trying to attract a mate? That's why he’s growling and trying to break down my house?”

Vegeta grimaces. “He’s already decided on one. In the first stage of heat a Beta will look for a strong alpha, and if they find them worthy, challenge them to a fight. If the alpha wins, stage two happens. I have heard of beta’s getting angry when separated from their chosen mate, but none were ever left for long because a Beta left alone in a first heat would often die."

“You’re saying he chose you. He asked to fight you.” Bulma springs from her seat and repeatedly slaps Vegeta's head. “Why the hell didn't you say no!!”

“Ow woman, I wasn't exactly aware of what was happening.” Vegeta grabs both of Bulma's hands and pushes them away from his face as he continues. “I left planet Vegeta before I came of age, so I never participated in any courtship rituals.”

Bulma sighs and her whole body deflates. “So what do we do now?”

“That I don’t know. I suppose we should contact the boy’s harpy of a mother and idiot father and talk it out with them, and keep a close eye on him as things progress.

* * *

Vegeta grits his teeth as Kakaorot’s Harpy of a wife Screeches for the tenth time during this discussion.

“There’s just no way my Gohan, my child is ready for sex!!” she sobs.

“Well Chi, he is 18. “ Kakarot tries to console her.

“Actually Chi-Chi” Bulma starts, “I think he probably would have been ready earlier if he hadn't lost his tail.” Chi-Chi stares at her in disbelief. “I think the loss of his tail stunted his development.” she continues.

At that Chi-Chi turns to Kakarot and says “You don't think …”

But Vegeta cuts her off before she can start screeching again. “No, male presenting Betas were fairly rare, and I can tell by his scent that he isn't one.” 

“Well good,” Chi-Chi says softly all of the fight leaving her. “Well, what are we gonna do?” She asks the very question they had been trying to answer for the last half hour as she had been raving.

“Well the room he's in right now has Ki suppressing technology in it, so he won't be able to get out. For now, we will monitor him and hope he rides it out on his own." Bulma explains calmly.

Kakarot looks from Bulma to Vegeta and says “But you don't think that's very likely, him riding it out by himself that is.” And damn him, for once in his damn life for being insightful.

“No, I don’t, Back on Planet Vegeta a beta in their first heat left unattended would often die.” Vegeta clenches out.

Chi-Chi looks like she's about to start ranting again, but before she can Bulma steps in, “We don't know for sure what will happen to Gohan, He is only half Saiyan. And on the off chance that he does start to go downhill, Vegeta can step in and take care of it.” She soothes.

“That brute! I won't stand for it. Gohan didn't choose this and from what you said right now he can't choose!” Chi-Chi bellows. And Vegeta clenches his teeth as the harpy repeats the thoughts that have been running through his head the whole time this conversation has been going on.

“But Chi, from what Bulma told us, Gohan did choose Vegeta,” Kakarot says. And everyone in the room looks at him. “He challenged Vegeta to a fight, and that's the first step of the courtship thing right?” he says nervously as he rubs the back of his head.

Bulma lets out a deep breath and smiles. “That’s right Goku, Gohan did choose him." Chi-Chi looks like she is gearing up for another fit but before Bulma can try to calm her down, Goku turns to her, his face serious for once in his fool life, and says. 

“That’s it Chi-Chi, Gohan chose Vegeta. If it gets Bad, Vegeta will take care of it. He’s a good man and he’s earned our trust, even with something this delicate." And that silences everyone in the room. 

And Vegeta is shocked. He knew Kakarot thought of him in some fond way, but he would never think that the man would trust him with his son, his son who once upon a time he was set on killing. He clenches his fists and looks away from the man. Not willing to endure more of that trusting look.

“Well if that's all we can do, that's all we can do.”, Chi-Chi concedes. And that, thank Kami, is the end of the conversation.

“Let me lead you to a room where you and Goku can stay for the next few days, Goten can stay with Trunks.” And with that Bulma leads the Son family out of the sitting room. And for the first time since this all started Vegeta relaxes.

* * *

By one PM Gohan has screamed himself out. His vitals were high but steady and the cameras in the room showed Gohan ‘taking care of things himself’ and Bulma can only hope that this would take care of things. She knows Vegeta thinks it won’t be enough, and the longer this goes on, the more the sinking feeling in her chest grows that says he's right. It took everyone a long time to unwind for bed that night. Bulma had to tell Chi-Chi multiple times that she had wired an alarm to her wristwatch if his vitals got too high or too low, but eventually, Goku got her to bed. If only her own husband would come to bed. She laya in her bed for almost two hours before he finally comes in, opening the door without a sound, only the slight crack of light illuminating the room alerting her to his presence.

“Vegeta” she calls as she sits up, letting the blankets pool around her waist. He stops at the nightstand his back turned to her and she frowns at how tense his back is, how much stress he is clearly holding. She slides out from the bed and wraps her arms around his back, saying nothing waiting for him to speak. Slowly his shoulders relax and Vegeta grabs one of her hands and places a kiss on it. He turns around in her arms and places his hands on her waist. “I know this situation is … less than ideal. But we can deal with it.” Bulma breaks the silence, her voice soft.

“You know if I do have to do this, he will likely end up with child.” He says, not meeting her eyes.

Bulma raises her hand to caress him and raises his face so their eyes meet. “And if that happens we will cross that bridge when we get to it. There is a chance he might not even want to keep the child. I certainly wouldn't if I was in his shoes. And maybe he will carry it to term but he won't want to keep it. We could take it in and raise it as our own. And if he does want to keep it and raise it himself, I am sure he would let you be a part of its life. Gohan is a good person Vegeta.”

“I know he is” Vegeta murmurs, “Which is why I  _ Don't _ want to do this.”

“I know you don’t. And maybe you won't have to.” Vegeta scoffs at that. “I know you don't think he can ride this out, but there is a chance, however slim, that his human heritage might let him. But if he can’t you are his best option, and remember, like Goku said, he  _ did _ choose you.”

Vegeta scoffs again. “Some choice, I am the only of age Saiyan who isn't related to him.”

“If what you told me is right, he could have chosen to fight no one, if he didn’t think you were worthy he wouldn't have challenged you,” Bulma reassures him. And she wishes for once his self-esteem was as big as his damn ego. She could tell she wasn’t getting through to him and sighed. “There's nothing more we can do tonight. Let’s go to bed” she says and pulls her husband over to her bed. Neither of them slept for a long time.

* * *

It has been three days since they had locked Gohan into the Ki suppression room and he wasn't doing well. His heart rate had been too high this whole time. And now it was dangerous. Plus he hadn't stopped his activities to eat or drink. Which only exacerbated his heart condition. Chi-Chi was beyond distressed but had finally agreed that it was time to send Vegeta in. He is not happy about this, not by a long shot, but it is the outcome he had seen coming since this whole mess began. “Turn off the cameras”. He tells Bulma. She makes to protest but before she can say a word he said: “You have his vitals on your watch and I can call you if things get worse, so turn off the cameras.”

He walks down the long hallway leading to the ki-suppression room and takes a deep breath and opens the door. He immediately covers his mouth and nose as what felt like a wall of that sweet scent hits him. He hits the panel to close the door behind him and quickly moves to open the sole window in the room. If he wants to retain any semblance of control he needs to air out the room. Gohan finally awakes from his fitful slumber and realizes his chosen mate is in the room and he lest out a pitiful whine and reaches for him. Vegeta feels light-headed as he makes his way towards the younger man stripping off his clothes as he goes. 

He crawls onto the bed and Gohan weakly gets himself onto his knees presenting himself perfectly. Well he might as well get things started, he reaches out and felt Gohan's entrance and he is sopping, his slick staining himself and the bed. He slides two fingers in to stretch him but finds the action to be perfunctory, Gohan has already been fingering himself for the past three days and he is wide open. He retracted his fingers and uses a liberal amount of slick to coat his dick. And then he takes himself in hand and linea himself up when Gohan suddenly slama himself down on Vegeta’s cock. The slick heat around his dick takes the prince’s breath away. He holds himself in check to give Gohan time to get used to the intrusion, but the younger man would have none of it. He immediately starts moving. “Fuck!” Vegeta grinds out and gives in. He puta his hands around Gohan’s waist and slams in. The squelching sound of slick easing his way in and the slapping of skin against skin as he went balls deep into that perfect tight hole is obscene. Gohan's tail creeps up and winds around Vegeta's forearm in an attempt to keep him close.

Gohan, as lost as he is in his heat, had no inhibitions about the sounds he is making, he moans wantonly, and god it is heady, it was mixing with that divine smell and all Vegeta could think of was slamming into that tight hole. He shifts his position to go deeper and Gohan wails. Vegeta smirks and proceeds to pound mercilessly into the younger Saiyan. And after a few more thrusts Gohan’s hole tightens around his dick as he comes. Vegeta moaned and thrusta in erratically a few more times and followed him. 

Gohan collapses with Vegeta no longer holding him up and it takes everything in Vegeta not to do the same right on top of him. But Vegeta has no time to rest, He has a limited window to get Gohan to drink and eat now that his heat was temporarily sated before they started this all over again. He manages to get Gohan to drink a whole water bottle and eat a bag of nuts before he refuses any more. 

Vegeta tries to force him to eat more and Gohan snarls and sits himself down onto Vegeta’s cock taking the pleasure Vegeta was refusing to give him. “Fuck” Vegeta curses and relents. Apparently, this was all going to go when and how Gohan said. The younger Saiyan rises onto his knees and slams himself back onto Vegeta's dick. It takes a moment for Vegeta to make a rhythm of Gohan's frantic movements but once he does he startes meeting Gohan thrusting up into him. Gohan growled again and rakes his nails down Vegeta's back and the little shit drew blood. Unbidden a growl rumbled in Vegeta’s chest and he smashes his mouth against Gohan’s. The younger man immediately relents and lets Vegeta’s tongue enter his mouth. It is sloppy and unrefined but it was good. It was a release. The prince could never fuck his wife this way, she would break, and at a later date he will feel guilty at that thought, but now the only thought running through his mind is more, harder, faster. It was more like a battle than sex and it was exhilarating. 

The noises he was drawing out of the younger Saiyan are intoxicating, snarling between long drawn out moans. He is so drawn into it that he didn't stiffen when Gohan licks his neck, in fact, he leans into it. Then Gohan is biting into his shoulder and he roars. The pain is exquisite, and he was gone. He came off his endorphin high quickly and crashes hard. Gohan has  _ bitten _ him.  _ He  _ had almost bitten Gohan back. That thought was like a shock of cold water. The ramifications of this were not going to be good. Gohan has gone still, he was most likely asleep, and the lessening of the scent in the room meant that he was probably sated. Vegeta moves to the side of the bed and puts his head in his hands. “Shit”. He needs to talk to Bulma.


	3. Chapter 3

Gohan woke slowly, He stretches and winces as he pulls on muscles that are clearly sore. He sits up and opens his eyes, he doesn't recognize the room he is in which was concerning, what was even more concerning was the fact that he is naked and he has no recollection of how that happened. His concern moved up to straight up alarm when Vegeta walks into the room from the connected bathroom. The prince is freshly showered wearing his usual battlesuit, his tail wrapped around his waist. “Vegeta wha-'' Gohan's voice breaks and he swallows and tries again “What happened?”

The prince stops and turns a scrutinizing look to the younger man. “What do you remember?” 

Gohan takes a deep breath and collects his thoughts. He remembers going into the gravity room and fighting with Vegeta. Then things get fuzzy. He blushes as he remembers flashes of being intimate. His eyes widen and he stares up at Vegeta. He had had sex with Vegeta, from the state of his body, pretty wild sex. “Uh, the last clear thing I remember is fighting you, after that, Um things get fuzzy.”

“Go get cleaned up, then come out to the sitting room. I will explain what happened there.” Vegeta commands, then he leaves the room.

Gohan’s head is spinning, he was … intimate with Vegeta, and he didn’t know how he ended up in that position. He slumps forward on the bed, Oh god, Bulma,... Oh GOD Videl! He had cheated on her. He grasps his hair and yanks on it hard. What had made him do this, what had made Vegeta do this. A loud bang on the door pulls him out of his whirling thoughts. “Brat go get cleaned up, the sooner you do that, the sooner you will find out what happened.”

And yeah, he could do that, he just needs to get clean and then Vegeta would explain everything.

* * *

When Gohan got to the sitting room he was surprised to see both Bulma and Vegeta sitting there. So Bulma must know what’s going on too. That thought gives him a little bit of comfort. He sits on the couch opposite them and turns to face Vegeta. Surprisingly it is Bulma who speaks first. “What's the last thing you remember Gohan?” She asks in a soft comforting voice.

“Um, the last clear thing I remember is Fighting Vegeta in the Gravity room. A-After that it is just flashes of things.” And please god let Bulma get what he is trying to say, don’t make him spell it out.

“Hn, that tracks, Betas during their first heat don’t remember much of what goes on,” Vegeta speaks, looking off to the side.

“Um, Heat? Is that, is that what happened to me?” Gohan asks, and that would make sense he figures from how filthy he had been before the shower. “Is this a Saiyan thing?”

“Yes, it is Gohan,” Bulma continues. “In Saiyan culture, there are two genders, Alphas, and Betas.” Bulma looks to Vegeta presumably to make sure she's explaining it right and he just nods. “Alphas can sire children and Betas can carry them. Most Alphas resemble males and Betas' females, but there is a small percentage of Betas who resemble men and they can both sire and carry children.”

Gohan hears a faint ringing sound in his ears and he feels disconnected from his body. His voice when it comes doesn’t sound like him. “So You’re saying I'm a Beta, and I went into heat.”

“Yes, You won’t have to worry about it again for another five to seven years, and possibly not even then, I am going to be working on a suppressant so that you don’t have to go through it again.” Bulma reaches out and puts a hand on his leg and pats it reassuringly. “Even if I don’t have it ready in time, which let’s be real, is doubtful, now that we know the symptoms we can avoid you going into full-blown heat.”

Gohan still feels far away, but he tries to focus on that. “Symptoms?” he asks.

Vegeta turns and looks at him directly. “When a Beta first goes into heat their instincts tell them to find a worthy mate, they determine this by fighting. If they win the fight or decide not to fight in the first place, second stage heat won’t happen at all.”

“That’s good to know,” Gohan says and he doesn’t know why his voice sounds so calm when he feels like he's on the verge of a panic attack. He knows what they are going to bring up next, so he just bites the bullet and asks “So when will we know if I'm pregnant.”

Bulma winces, “That I don’t know, because you're male we don’t have periods to go by for a marker. And both because you are male and half Saiyan there is no guarantee that a traditional pregnancy test will work. I think we will just have to wait and in about a month and a half we can do an ultrasound.”

Gohan nods mechanically. His hands are gripping his pants so hard he hears a small tearing noise. He tries to focus on the fabric under his hands to ground him, but it isn't working. His tails curls around his waist to try to bring him more comfort.

Bulma can tell Gohan is in distress but she doesn’t know how to comfort him. She turns to her husband. Vegeta huffs and looks Gohan in the eye for the first time during this conversation.``Gohan, none of this was your fault. No one knew you were a beta, we presume because having your tail cut off at an early age stunted your development. We tried to let you wait your heat out, but your vitals were too erratic so I had to step in. From what I’ve seen of your woman she will understand. You shouldn’t fear losing her. And if she does leave she was never worthy of you in the first place." And a wave of shock ripples through the panic clouding his vision. He must look horrible if Vegeta feels the need to comfort him. But the words do bring a small measure of calm to him.

“And Gohan” Bulma cuts in ”You have options, if you don’t want to carry the child abortion is always an option. If you don’t want to do that but don’t want to raise the child, Vegeta and I would be happy to take them in.” She grabs Vegeta’s hand and squeezes it for emphasis. Vegeta just grunts but doesn't dispute the statement. “And of course if you want to you could keep the child, you could raise it with Videl. I know this is a lot to take in, but I want you to know that you have options.”

Gohan slowly forces his hands to unclench from his pants and takes a deep breath. “I need some time to think,” Gohan said quietly.

“That is completely understandable,” Bulma assures. “Your family is waiting for you, I’m sure you would feel better at home in a more familiar environment.”

Gohan nods and stands, running his hands down his pristine shirt just to give his hands something to do “Yeah I think that would help.” He opens the door to the main living area and immediately his mother is on him.

“Oh, Gohan, are you okay?” She wails “Did that brute “She turns and glares at Vegeta “Hurt you?” Vegeta glares at her but says nothing in response.

Gohan wraps his arms around his mother and just breathes in her familiar scent for a moment. When Chi-Chi realizes that her son isn't speaking back to her she stops yelling and wraps her arms around him and squeezes. “Goku,” She says, turning to her husband, “I think we should take our son home, He needs his rest.”

“Okay Chi, I’ll take you guys home and then go get Goten, I think he's still busy playing with Trunks.” Goku says, and after Chi-Chi nods in agreement, he walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder, and with a thought, they are back at their home on Mount Paozu. Chi-Chi barely has time to take in the change of surroundings before Goku is gone again.

After a good minute, Gohan finally lets go of the embrace he has his mother in. and Chi-Chi smiles a small grin at him, and Gohan smiles back, it is a small tremulous thing, but a smile nonetheless.

“Gohan, I want you to know that your father and I will be there for you no matter what happens. We’re your parents and we love you and there’s nothing we can’t handle together.” She proclaims, bringing her hand up to cradle her son’s face, wiping at the stray tear she finds there. 

“Now you look exhausted, why don't you go rest up while I make us some dinner,” she says and gives his cheek a final pat.

“Okay, mom.” Gohan acquiesces. He grabs her hand before it can slip away and kisses it. Then he turns and walks up the stairs to his bedroom. He realizes he didn't take off his shoes when he entered the house, but he's too tired to go back downstairs and leave them by the door. So he just kicks them off of his feet and then climbs into bed. He pulls the blankets around him in a cocoon and falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. 

* * *

  
  
“Big brother!” Gohan wakes up to his younger brother practically jumping on the bed.

“GOTEN! I told you to let him sleep!” Chi-Chi yells up the stairs. 

“But mom, he was gonna miss dinner!” Goten whines. “You didn't want to miss dinner, did you? Mom made all of your favorites!” Goten stops his jumping and leans in close to Gohan's face.

His brother's antics make him laugh and Gohan reaches out and rubs a hand through his hair. “Your right squirt, I definitely don't want to miss dinner.” As if to prove his statement right, Gohan’s stomach chooses that moment to growl. Gohan makes his way out of his blanket cocoon and stretches until his back pops satisfyingly.

Goten grabs his big brother's hand and pulls him towards the door, his tail swishing happily behind him. “C’mon Gohan, let's go before Dad eats everything!” 

“Alright, Alright, I’m Coming!” Gohan laughs and lets his brother lead him down the stairs to the kitchen. The table is laden down with mountains of food. And Gohan warms as he sees that Goten was right, his mom did make all his favorites. His dad goes in to steal some pork and Chi-Chi swats his hand with a spatula.

“Not until everyone is sitting down Goku!” she admonishes as Goku shakes out his stinging hand.

“Ouch, man alright Chi, you didn't have to hit me though!” Goku whines. And everything feels so normal, just like any other dinner at the Son household. It warms him and even though his problems are lingering at the back of his mind, the comfort of this sameness keeps his worries at bay.

He sits down at the table and starts serving himself, starting with dumplings and pork belly. Now that the food is in front of him, he finally realizes that he's starving, it feels like he hasn’t eaten in days and he eats as fast as he can while still keeping his manners. Set between his brother and his father sometimes he wonders why he even tries, but then he sees his mother eating daintily and he remembers manners are something to live by in even the most trying of times.

"How was your nap sweetie? Are you feeling better?” Chi-Chi and asks as she sets down her chopsticks.

Gohan swallows his current mouthful of food and answers “I’m feeling loads better mom.”

The rest of the meal is taken up by Goten telling everyone what he did with Trunks over the past four days. And geez no wonder he was starving, he gathered that he barely had anything to eat over that time. And that brings him right back to his situation. He sets his chopsticks down and takes a deep breath tuning out his brother's rambling. There really is nothing he can do until he knows, so he resolves to keep it out of his mind, just keep living daily life as normal until he knows one way or the other for sure. With his mind made up, he finishes his dinner. He is just about to go back up to his room to catch up on homework when his Dad calls out.

“Oh, hey Gohan, Here’s your phone, I picked it up with the rest of your stuff. It's gone off a few times, But I couldn't unlock it to see who was calling.” Goku calls out, handing his son a duffle bag and his phone.

‘Thanks, Dad.” Gohan says and grabs his duffle with one hand, and his phone with the other. He takes the stairs up to his room two at a time and sets his duffle down at the bottom of his bed and sits down and unlocks his phone. His stomach sinks as he sees, four missed calls and a string of unanswered texts from Videl. He had just made a resolution to live his life like nothing had changed, but something had, and he had to tell his girlfriend. 

He takes a deep breath and hovers over Videl’s number. He squeezes his eyes shut and hits dial. The phone rings once before Videl’s voice comes over the line. “Gohan are you okay? You weren't at school and you weren't answering your phone.” She sounded more worried than mad, which Gohan thanked his lucky stars for.

“Hey Videl I’m sorry I didn't contact you, but something happened.” He started his tail twitching nervously.

“Something so big you couldn't answer your phone for four days,” Videl stated, some anger heating her voice.

“I’m sorry Videl, but I wasn't really in any condition to answer my phone, and I guess my family just didn't think about letting you know that I was sick,” Gohan said. His left hand was clenching and unclenching nervously. 

“So you were sick?” Videl asks, sympathy coloring her voice.

“Not exactly, but it isn't something I can't explain over the phone.” And boy was that right, this was something he needed to do in person, he had cheated on her after all, he owed her the courtesy of allowing her to slap him in person.

“Alright.” Videl sounded wary but she accepted it. “So tomorrow before school?” She asked.

“My mom is still pretty worried about me, I don’t think she's gonna let me go tomorrow. She wants to keep me home to make sure I'm one hundred percent better.” 

And Videl was shocked, Chi-Chi, keeping Gohan home from school, it must be something big then. “Why don't I meet you at your place after school then?” She asks.

“Gohan rubs his free hand over his eyes, already trying to figure out how he would tell her. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow all right?”

“All right Gohan, I love you,” Videl said and ended the call. And god those last words made his heart clench in his chest. She loved him and he did this to her, he was such a piece of shit.

He fell back on his bed and tosses his phone onto the nightstand when he hears a small “Gohan?” He turned towards the door and sees Goten.

"Yeah, what’s up squirt?” He tries to muster up a smile for his younger brother, but he could tell from the look on his brother's face that it didn't pass muster.

“Trunks said you were sick, and it was because we wished your tail back. Are you mad at me?” Gohan asks in a small voice, his hands clenched tightly together in front of his chest in the same way their mom would do when she was worried.

Gohan sits up and holds his arms out to his brother. “Of course not, I could never stay mad at you. I did get sick and it was because of my tail, but I know when you wished for them back you only wanted to do it to make everyone happy, so of course, I don't blame you.” 

Goten runs up to his brother and jumps into his arms, hiding his face in Gohan’s neck, his tail twining around his brother's arm. His next words are muffled but Gohan made them out nonetheless “I’m glad, I was real scared when they told me you were sick, and I was mad that it was my fault.” Goten’s arms come up around his brother’s neck and squeeze.

‘Well I’m all better now, and no one is mad at you for it okay? You didn't know so it wasn't your fault. It was just an accident.” Gohan rubs his hand up and down Goten's back in a soothing manner.

"Are you sure you're not mad at me" Gotten sniffles. "You were sick for a while and missed a lot of school."

Gohan pulls back from his brother so he can look him in the eye. "No Goten I'm not mad, things might be a little complicated because of it, but I'm sure everything will work out. Plus ``Gohan says with a smile "Do you really think I need help with schooling with how strict mom is at home? I'm sure I could test out of high school altogether if I wanted to. You know how mom is."

Goten's face scrunches up into a pout "Yeah I do, and now she's gonna make me work even harder cuz I missed four days of work too."

"Well squirt, I'm gonna be home all day tomorrow, so I can probably help you get caught up."

Goten's eyes widened in happiness! "You mean it! Studying is always better when you're there to help."

"Yeah I mean it, now go get ready for bed before mom comes in to find you," Gohan says while pushing his brother towards the closet.

"Oh, um Gohan?" Goten asks "Trunks said his dad helped you not be sick anymore. Is that true?"

Gohan blanches and chokes on his own spit. He coughs for a minute before replying "Um yeah, yeah it is, Vegeta helped me feel better." ' a lot more than better, more like fantastic really' his brain supplies and he quickly shoves the thought away. What little he remembers of his time with Vegeta had been pleasurable, to say the least.

"I'm glad Mr. Vegeta helped you get better Gohan. Mom and Dad were real scared for you. They didn't want me to know but I could tell." Goten said as he pulled on his pajamas. 

"Yeah, I'm uh, I'm glad that Vegeta helped too." And Gohan realizes that he was glad that Vegeta helped, he could have died, and while the dragon balls could always be used to wish him back, he didn't think dying by extreme horniness would have been a pleasant experience.

"Goten, you better be getting your butt in bed, mister!" Chi-Chi calls from down the hall, and at the reminder that it was bedtime Goten quickly climbs into bed.

"Night Gohan," Goten said and snuggles into his bed.

Gohan waits about an hour until he is sure Goten is asleep, then goes to his desk and picks up a pencil and starts to write. He needs his confession to Videl to be perfect, and when he spoke in the moment everything just came out wrong. So writing it was.

He groaned as he crumples up another piece of paper, tossing it into the growing pile in the trash can by his desk. The thing was almost overflowing and nothing seemed to be coming out right. He lays his head down on his desk with a thump.

A sudden "Son?" Startles him and he bolts upright. His dad is standing in the hallway sleepy-eyed and dressed in wrinkled pajamas. "What are you still doing up? It's almost 3 a.m." and Gohan looks at his watch and was surprised to see it was 2:47.

"Videl is coming over to talk to me tomorrow and I have to tell her. I just don't know what I can say to make this okay. I love her Dad and I don't want to lose her." Gohan whispers, his voice choked up and tears burning behind his eyes.

Goku looks at his son for a long moment and then steps into the room. He puts his hands on Gohan's shoulders and looks him directly in the eye. "First of all this isn't your fault, you didn't have a choice." 

Gohan opens his mouth to protest. He could have just let the whole thing fizzle out, but he chose to fight Vegeta. But before he can get the words out his Dad shakes his head. "You didn't know any of this stuff about first or second stage heat, so it isn't your fault."

Gohan's shoulder sags and he looks down at his lap. "I just don't know if she will see it that way, Dad." He knows that he doesn't really see it that way. He should have  _ known _ .

Goku took Gohan’s chin in his hand and brings his face up until their eyes meet. "Have a little more faith in Videl son, she's been through a lot for you, and I reckon she's willing to go through a fair bit more. And if there is the slightest chance that she isn't willing to, she wasn't worth it in the first place."

And Gohan finds it so odd that his Father was parroting the same words that Vegeta had said earlier that day. If both his father and Vegeta, who were both so different, think that Videl would give him a chance, then maybe she would. A small glimmer of hope rose into Gohan's chest and it buoyed him for the rest of his task. When he turned back to his desk his father asks puzzled "Now what are you doing?"

"I still have to figure out what to say," Gohan said as he picks his pencil back up. But then Goku's hand encircles his and takes the pencil away and sets it back down.

"I always find that it is best to just speak from your heart. If you are honest and earnest everything will work out." And Gohan smiles at that, that was most definitely how his father lived his life, and for the most part, he was right, most things had worked out for him. So he acquiesces and goes over to his bed.

"Alright dad, I'll try your way this time." He responds as he gets into bed. Goku smiles at him and turns off his desk lamp.

"I'll see you in the morning son. He said softly and pads quietly out of the room. Gohan is asleep within minutes.

* * *

Bulma waits in her bed for her husband to join her. After the conversation with Gohan this morning he had made himself scarce. And she knew he had his reservations about this, but she thought he had made peace with it. Apparently not. The moment Gohan had left he had entered the gravity room and he hadn't left even to eat. So Bulma let him have his space. She had busied herself with Lab work and managing Trunks, But now it was nearing one o'clock in the morning and she was finding it hard to sleep without her husband. She rolls over and checks her phone, the Gravity room hasn't been engaged for an hour now, so hopefully he will be coming to bed soon. Her musings were interrupted by a sliver of light illuminating the room and then leaving again as the door was shut. “Vegeta?” She called out and he grunted in acknowledgement.

The moonlight illuminated the room just enough that she could see him walk to his dresser. He pulls off his shirt and pants and leaves just his boxers on,his tail, as always, was wrapped around his middle. He then walks over to the bed and slides under the covers without saying a word to her. As soon as he is under the sheets, Bulma presses herself to his back and inhales his calming scent. Bulma could feel the tension he must have been carrying all day slowly leave his body. She reaches her hand up to squeeze his shoulder when she feels something unfamiliar. She felt along his shoulder and it feels like there is a new scar there, and a deep one by how it felt.

“Lights.” Bulma calls and the lights come on. When they do Bulma’s eyes widen. There was a scar on Vegeta's shoulder in the shape of someone's  _ teeth _ . “Oh my god Vegeta, when did this happen.” She stopped to think for a moment. “Did  _ Gohan _ do this? I need to go get my med kit.”

Vegeta sighs and sits up as Bulma leaves the bed. “Woman I am fine, this is nothing.” He said, trying to coax his wife back to bed.

“It clearly is something otherwise you wouldn't have a gaping BITE MARK on your neck!” Bulma yells as she leaves the bathroom, emerging with a first aid kit.

“Bulma, the wound has already healed, there is nothing for you to tend to.” Vegeta says exasperatedly.

“I know you Saiyans are fast healers, but even you wouldn't heal from a wound like that in a matter of hours.” Bulma said hotly.

Seeing he was not going to persuade her, Vegeta crosses his arms and waits for her to return. He feels the bed dip next to him as she returns. A small snap brakes the air as Bulma opens the first aid kit. She pulls out a disinfectant wipe and brings it to the wound when she stops. As she examines the wound she can see , 'Kami above', That Vegeta was actually right. Not only did the wound not look fresh, it looks like it was months healed. 

“Vegeta, How….” Bulma trails off waiting for her husband to fill in the blanks.

“Yes, Gohan bit me, he was in the throes of heat and it was instinct. The bite is a mating mark. They heal faster than any other damage done to a saiyan would.” Vegeta explains, back still turned to his wife.

“A mating mark?” Bulma asks, “you mean he” She stopped to think of a word for a moment “He claimed you?” she was shocked. Vegeta turned towards her and nods. “And did you, did you claim him back?

‘Vegeta clenches his hands in frustration “I did not, I have more self-control than that. Gohan was out of his head, and if he were clear headed he would never choose to be bound to me in that manner.” He grinds out from between clenched teeth.

“Bound to you?” She asks, and of course that is what the damn woman would choose to focus on.

Vegeta clenches his eyes closed and releases a long controlled breath before opening them again and looking at his wife. “Yes, when two Saiyans take the mating mark, they are bound together for life.”

A look of hurt flashes across Bulma’s face, but it leaves so quickly Vegeta wasn't sure he hadn't imagined it. “Bound how?” She asks, and his Bulma was always the scientist.

“They are connected, they can feel each other’s emotions. Some people say it is born of an ancient magic. “ he scoffs at this “it is more likely a survival mechanism from when we lived on Sadala, it was a harsh environment and any early warning of trouble would be beneficial."

"Oh," Bulma says in a small voice. "So then since it wasn't completed is it just a mark?" She asks, and Vegeta can feel that there is something else she wants to ask, but he can't parse it out.

"No" Vegeta pauses for a moment "I can feel his emotions."

"Vegeta you need to tell him, he deserves to know." Bulma chides.

"No, he already hates himself for what did go down, if I told him that he made this connection, he would blame himself for that too." Vegeta insists.

Bulma clasps her hands together under her chin and smiles "So you do care.!" She coos.

"No." Vegeta emphasizes the word by slamming his fist on the bed. It loses some of its impact as the only sound it makes is a muffled thump. "I don't care," he continues "it is just already annoying dealing with his thoughts of self hatred and if he had something else to add to them it would get worse." 

Vegeta scowls at his wife, but it doesn't look like she is buying it. "I'll give you that, you have a reason not to, but he should know you can feel what he feels." She says sliding up next to him and setting a calming hand on his shoulder.

"If I tell you I will think about it, will you leave it be?" Vegeta huffs.

Bulma smiles "For now." She agrees. But Vegeta can see something underneath her mask of contentment, something fragile and broken. He wishes he knew how to be gentle, how to use tweezers and extract that hurt and soothe it away. But all he can do is bulldoze through the mask and confront the hurt and hope he knows the right thing to say to patch it up.

"There is something else you are worrying about." Vegeta asserts. Bulma turns to reassure him that everything is fine but Vegeta beats her to the punch. "I know you Bulma and something is bothering you, so just come out with it."

The jovial smile leaves her face and something more somber takes over. "Why -" she starts then looks directly at him "why did you never try to bond with me?" She asks.

And the question hits him full force, like a lightning bolt from a storm. He moves closer to her and gathers her into his arms. "I tried, many times."

"You did?" She asks in a tremulous voice. And his Bulma should never sound so small, so unsure.

"Of course I did, I hold you above all others, you are my Queen, so of course I tried. Do you not remember after Trunks when I bit you and you kicked me out of the bedroom for a week?"

Her eyes widen as she recalls. "I called you a savage." She laughs. "You were really trying to…" her voice trails off.

"Yes, but it wouldn't take, apparently it doesn't work on humans, I'm surprised Gohan was able to do it at all." Vegeta says as he rubs Bulma's cheek.

"You must know I would have no other before you." He whispers and kisses her softly, his tail coming up to wind around her waist.

Bulma smiles a watery smile and replies "I do know that." Then a devious look comes over her face. "Now why don't you show your queen how she should be treated." She says and she leans back against the headboard and spreads her legs.

Vegeta growls through a savage grin and replies "As you wish my liege."

  
  


* * *

Gohan taps his foot anxiously as he checks his watch for the fourth time in a five minute period. It was nearing four o clock and Videl would be here soon if there wasn't any crime holding her up. Every minute he waits, twists his insides up more and more. His mom had tried distracting him earlier by asking him to help prepare dinner, but when he burned the third pan of rice she banished him from the kitchen. 

He locked onto Videl’s ki as it made its way towards his house, and in a few minutes, she was within view. She touches down lightly, the grass barely moving beneath her feet. She rushes up to Gohan and embraces him. “I know you said you were all good, but seeing you for myself just makes me feel better.”

Gohan returns her embrace, but when she goes for a kiss, he turns his head so she catches him on the cheek instead of the mouth. Videl gives him an inquiring look at that but lets it go. “Walk with me for a bit.” He asks her and leads her down a winding path to a semi-secluded clearing. Videl sensing he won’t start speaking until they get there, fills him in on what he had missed, the latest school drama, what crime-fighting had been done, and what homework he would need to do. They finally reach the clearing and Gohan sits down inviting Videl to do the same.

“So this is going to be hard to talk about Videl, and I ask that you listen completely before you ask any questions.” Gohan breathes out in a rush, his tail twitching behind him. Videl nods and waits for him to start.

"So I told you that my brother wished for us all to get our tails back. But what none of us knew was that there were going to be some consequences from that wish.” Gohan tells Videl about the Saiyan genders the way that Bulma had explained it to him, and his girlfriend is silent but listening intently. He has been nervous since she landed in front of his house, but his heart feels like it is going to pound right out of his chest now. He is trying to listen to his Dad’s advice, to speak from the heart, but everything just feels so jumbled up so he just spits it out.

“I went into heat.” He almost yells, and clenches his eyes shut, waiting for Videl to start telling him what a freak he is, to accuse him of being a cheater. But it doesn't come. Instead, Videl slips her hand onto his thigh and squeezes gently encouraging him to continue. “I wasn't really coherent during it, and I’m only now remembering bits and pieces of it,” he murmured eyes resolutely looking at a tree across the clearing. Bulma told me they tried to wait for me to burn it out of my system, they waited three days, but I wasn't eating or drinking and my vitals got bad, so” he takes a shaky breath and darts his eyes over to see Videl, but his eyes quickly returned to the tree, he couldn't bear to see a look of disgust across her face. “So they sent Vegeta in and he helped me through it.” He blurts out, voice tremulous.

“Gohan, that-'' Videl starts but Gohan cuts her off, he isn't done, and he doesn't want to hear her reject him until she knows the whole truth.

“And we don't know for sure either way because the tests weren't exactly made for this situation. But I could be,” and his voice finally cracks here. He was trying to hold it together, but it seems the walls that were holding back his emotions are broken and in shambles now “ I could be pregnant.” and dammit he wanted to avoid this, but the tears start to fall.

It is still for a long moment, the only sounds are Gohan's shuddered breaths and the wind through the trees. Then Videl moves closer and puts a hand on Gohan's cheek. He looks up to meet her eyes and she says “I’m not going to lie, I am mad.” Gohan flinches, bracing for a tirade, but all she does is wipe away a tear running down his face. “I’m mad this happened to you. Gohan from what you said to me, you had no control over this whole situation. I’m angry this happened, but I’m not angry at you.” she soothes and leans in and presses a gentle kiss to his lips.

And suddenly Gohan feels like he can breathe again. He loves this woman so much it hurts, he would do anything for her, and her understanding is a blessing. “Bulma says we won’t know for a month or so, and I honestly don't know what I want to do, but if, if you asked me to, I would get rid of it. I know we haven't talked about kids, but I assume you would want them to be yours and -” Videl moves her hand over Gohan’s mouth to silence him and looks at him sadly.

“Gohan If I was in the same situation would you demand I get rid of the baby?” She asks softly, her hand sliding off his mouth to hang by her side.

“Of course not, It is your body and it would be your choice, I would never -” Gohan exclaims.

“Then why would you think I would do any different. It is your body and your choice and I will stand by you whatever choice you make, okay Gohan?” She assures him with a soft smile on her face.

And Gohan is so thankful, so thankful that this woman chose him. His chest is bursting with love. He reaches out and hugs her, pressing his face into her neck, and murmurs “I love you Videl.”

“And I love you too” She croons running her hand through his hair. They sit like that for a long while until Gohan's stomach growling interrupts the silence. He pulls back and blushes while Videl Laughs. “Okay Mr. Saiyaman, we should go get dinner before you starve to death.”

“It wasn't that loud was it?” Gohan asks a blush staining his cheeks.

“It was loud enough,” Videl replies and grabs his hand and leads him back to his  house.


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks after everything goes down, Gohan is at capsule corp, helping Bulma with the Healing tank project. He stops for lunch, and he is surprised to run into Vegeta in the Kitchen. “On Planet Vegeta the highest holiday was Roshkarah, It was in celebration of the Goddess Vohara.” Vegeta says casually.`` 

Gohan freezes for a moment, not sure what is going on, then his brain catches up with the sentence and he stops eating his sandwich and says “Wait a minute, let me go get my notebook.” He rushes to his room to get his backpack, hoping that Vegeta will still be there when he gets back, and thankfully he is. He settles onto the counter with his stuff and motions for Vegeta to go on.

“ Vohara was the Goddess of battle and birth. Roshakara lasted five days, there were many festivities, but the highlight of the festival was the battle for Vohara, a fighting tournament where any warrior could enter to test their mettle against their fellow Saiyans. The battle was unique in that no Ki was allowed in the fights so it was a test purely of skill.”

“No ki, so that means no Ki attacks, did that also mean no flying?” Gohan asks, tapping his pen against his notebook. He is already engrossed in the topic at hand.

Vegeta nods. “Yes, which is why it was seen as a battle purely of skill. Power levels didn't have much effect on the outcome of the battles, a much weaker warrior could win if he had a keener mind.” Vegeta looks at Gohan for a long minute. “I daresay with all the studying you have done under the Namekian, that you would have been a top contender in the tournament.”

And Gohan blushes at that. Praise from Vegeta is few and far between. The fact that the other man thought that he was that good of a strategist was a high compliment indeed. He coughs lightly and looks back at the older Saiyan. “I bet you were a top competitor every year.”

Vegeta smiles a small private thing. “I only competed one year. I left Planet Vegeta when I was five. But father thought at five I was old enough to participate. I managed fairly well in the competition until I came up against a very well trained third-class soldier.“ Vegeta’s expression turns wry “I underestimated him and it cost me the tournament. I did not take it well."

Gohan wondered what that exactly meant. He knew it was an understatement. Vegeta is not a gracious loser, and he was probably much worse at the tender age of five. He laughs as he imagines a tiny Vegeta throwing a temper tantrum.

Vegeta narrows his eyes at Gohan and asks “What exactly are you laughing at?” Gohan’s first instinct is to say nothing, but he pauses, Vegeta is sharing with him, maybe, just maybe he could be honest.

“I’m imagining what you were like when you were small.” He says honestly.

“You're imagining how I reacted when I lost the tournament.” And Vegeta has always had good insight into people.

“Yeah” Gohan laughs and rubs the back of his neck.

“If you think that Trunks is bad, he was nothing compared to me. I was a terrible child, always throwing tantrums if I didn't get my way. My father encouraged it in a way, telling me I deserved the best of everything. My tutors hated me. My mother was the only one who could get me out of a foul mood,” There was silence for a long moment and the small smile Vegeta had died away. “I stopped those tantrums quickly once I joined Freiza’s service.”

And Vegeta withdraws after that. There is a little more conversation about Roshakara, but it is clear he doesn't want to talk anymore, so Gohan winds down the talk and finishes with “Thanks for sharing with me Vegeta.” with a beatific smile.

"It is your heritage too.” Vegeta declares.

“Yeah it is, but you shared more than our heritage and I am grateful that you opened up to me.”

Vegeta turns away muttering something Gohan can’t quite hear and Gohan swears he sees a bloom of red on the tips of Vegeta’s ears. But he convinces himself he must have imagined it. “It was nothing. Now finish eating and go back to Bulma before she complains about me stealing you away from her projects.” Then he leaves the kitchen.

Gohan settles back into eating his sandwiches with a smile on his face, thinking of battles of wits and times gone by.

* * *

Soft snoring fills the classroom. Videl ignores it because calculus is the favorite nap time of several students. She is diligently taking notes and focusing on what Ms. Byther is saying when Erasa pokes her. “What Erasa, I’m trying to focus.”

“Don’t you hear that snoring?” Erasa asks, trying to get Videl to look at her. Videl ignores this, she hadn’t done well on her last test and she is determined to make up for it on the next one. She could always ask Gohan for help, but she wants to do this herself damnit.

“Yes Erasa I do, and that is different from any other period how?” She asks as she squints at the numbers on the board. She sees the answer, but she still doesn’t entirely get how the teacher got there.

“Um Videl, because it’s Gohan who’s sleeping.” She whispers, pointing to the boy next to her.

Videl snaps her head to her right only to see that it is indeed Gohan who is sleeping. Which has never happened before, not for calculus or any other class, in the whole time he had been going to Orange Star high. She rubs her eyes, but when she opens them it is still Gohan sleeping there.

Sharpener on his other side starts to snag his foot on the leg of Gohan’s chair and Videl sends him her meanest glare. “What? He asks innocently “I’m just getting him up so he won’t miss any more of the class." And Videl stops for a moment. While knocking his chair over certainly isn’t a way to wake anyone up from a nap, whether it is during class or not, they should wake Gohan up. But then she thinks of how worried he has been lately, and that he might be ..., well one missed period won’t hurt him at all. Then she smiles, maybe she can be the one to explain things to Gohan for once. Then her smile disappears  _ If  _ she can figure this out. 

With that decided, she turns to Sharpener and makes sure Erasa is listening too “Let him sleep, He’s had a stressful couple of weeks, we can catch up on what he missed after school." Erasa nods in agreement. Sharpener looks bewildered, but after a long look from Videl, he agrees as well. 

The class goes on as normal until the bell rings. Gohan shoots up from his seat and flounders for a moment before Videl steadies him. “What - I -what happened,” he asks, and Videl can’t help smiling at him. The notebook he was sleeping on left little red marks on his cheek.

“Well, Mr. Nerd, you slept through class.” Sharpener taunts. 

Gohan’s eyes widened and then his hands went to his hair. “I what!” He shrieks loud enough that some of the surrounding students turn to look at him. Gohan is oblivious to it and he just continues freaking out, his hands pulling at his hair.

‘It isn’t a big deal” Erasa says, “Everyone falls asleep in class sometimes.

“You don’t get it. “ Gohan says “If my Mom finds out I slept through a whole class I am dead.” Gohan starts gathering his supplies, he already slept through one class, he can’t be late for the next one.

“It’s fine Gohan, you’ve been stressed lately, I’m sure even your mom would understand just this once.” Videl pats his back doing her best to try to soothe him. “Plus,” she says ‘You’ll have me to help explain what you missed.

Gohan stops at that and smiles at Videl. And god that smile, if she had fallen for him for anything it was for that smile. "Thanks, Videl, I really appreciate it."

Then Erase ruins the mood by saying “Um, I think Videl was having trouble with the material, so you'll probably have to walk us all through it yourself Mr. Genius.”

Videl glares at her, but by now Erasa is immune to them. Then she just drops it, because, honestly, She’s not wrong. 

“C’mon, guys, we don’t want to be late for our next class. I know Nerd boy doesn’t want any blemishes on his perfect record” Sharper throws over his shoulder.

“You know my record isn’t actually perfect right Sharpener?” Gohan asks as he follows him out the door. And Videl hurries to gather her supplies so she can follow them out of the classroom.

* * *

Gohan is sitting on the couch doing his homework while his dad whittles something out of an old tree branch. Gohan vacillates between nodding off and shooting straight up after catching himself sleeping, the cycle goes on for a while until sleep wins the battle and his notebook falls onto his lap and his head rests against his chest. Goku smiles and moves Gohan’s head to rest on his shoulder.

“Gohan must be working pretty hard lately, I keep catching him nodding off,” Goku says to Chi-Chi. She stoops what she was doing in the kitchen to look into the family room. She smiles at the sight they made, Gohan softly snoring with his head on his Father’s shoulder. But a frown soon took the place of her smile. 

“I heard Videl teasing him about falling asleep in class,” Chi-Chi replied, taking the kitchen spoon out of the pot she was stirring. She set it on the tray by the oven and strides into the family room. She lays the back of her hand on Gohan’s forehead to test his temperature and he doesn't budge an inch. Chi-Chi frowns. “He’s warmer than usual, but it doesn’t feel like a fever.” She wipes her hands on her apron and frowns down at her son.

“You think there’s something to be worried about Chi?” Goku asks brow wrinkling in concern. He puts aside his whittling and turns to look directly at her.

“Well,” Chi-Chi says, biting her lip. “It’s nothing concrete, but fatigue and a high body temperature are early signs of pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Goten I would fall asleep at the drop of a hat.” Chi-Chi smiles, a wistful look overtaking her face. “Gohan was such a sweetheart, he did most of the housework for those first few months.” The wistful look was quickly swept away as her brow wrinkles in worry.

“Do you think we should take him to Bulma?” Goku asks, steadying Gohan's head when it almost falls off his shoulder with the sudden movement Goku made.

Chi-Chi shakes her head “No, as I said, it’s nothing concrete, and Bulma said she wouldn’t be able to tell until at least a month and a half in. It’s only been a month.’

Goku frowned. “Well, we should at least tell Gohan right?” He asks 

Chi-Chi shakes her head “No, I don’t think so, there’s no reason to stress him out until we know something for sure. For now, we’ll just let him sleep. After all” She smiles and runs her hand through her son’s hair. “Even if he isn’t ….” She trails off and her smile dims. “He’s been working hard, both at school and with his training.”

The peaceful moment is shattered by Goten running around the corner yelling “Gohan!”

“Goku covers Gohan’s ears while Chi-Chi puts her finger over her mouth and shushes her youngest son. “Goten your brother is sleeping. Also how many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house.” Chi-Chi scolds, her hands placed menacingly on her hips.

Goten shoulders hunch and he replies “I’m sorry mom. Gohan promised he’d go find Icarus with me after I was done with my schoolwork, and I just got done.”

“Well Gohan’s sleeping right now, so your plans will just have to wait,” Chi-Chi explains.

“Aw but Mom! It’s gonna be dark soon, and you won’t let me play outside after dark! Can’t I just wake him up?” Goten whines, fists held at his side.

“No Goten, Your brother is still getting over his sickness, so he might need to sleep more right now. If it gets dark you’ll just have to find something to do inside the house, okay.”

Goten deflates and he is clearly unhappy about it, but he listens to his mother. “Okay, Mom.”

Goku looks at his youngest son and then smiles. “Hey Goten, I have to go out to get the last of the supplies for dinner, why don’t you go get a book to read and sit here and watch over your brother.” Goku shares a conspiratorial smile with his wife as Goten brightens. 

“Okay! Dad! I’ll make sure Gohan is okay.” He says and then runs up the stairs to their room to get a book.

“I swear I tell that boy no running in the house at least five times a day,” Chi-Chi grumbles, but the light in her eyes belies the happiness she feels. Soon enough Goten is back downstairs sitting o the floor with a chapter book.

“Okay dad, I got it, you can go out now!” Goten chirps, and Goku smiles at him and leaves to get fish for dinner.

* * *

“Okay, Piccolo I’m Ready for you!” Gohan Calls out, already in his fighting stance. Piccolo was in his traditional stance and they both sized each other up for a good moment before Gohan leaps into action with a right hook. Piccolo easily dodges it and goes in for a head strike. Gohan barely moves out of the way and takes a few steps back to make some space between them. The spar went on like this for a few minutes, neither getting any good hits on the other, which was suspicious. Piccolo was especially good at getting around Gohan’s guard. The younger man narrows his eyes and decides to test his theory. He takes a weaker fighting stance and waits for Piccolo to come in, When he does, he ignored all the holes in Gohan’s guard and comes for his head instead. Angry Gohan raises his Ki and decides to kick the spar up a notch. He throws a flurry of punches at Piccolo's head. He manages to block most of them, but he takes a mean right hook to the face.

Gohan smirks and steps back waiting to see what Piccolo will do. In a flash Piccolo goes low aiming to get Gohan's feet out from under him, but Gohan sees the move coming and jumps over his leg. Suddenly, Piccolo changes tactics and manages to nail Gohan in the head. Gohan stumbles back stunned and then his feet hit something and he starts to fall. He braces for a landing, but the ground never comes. He opens his eyes and sees Piccolo holding him up. This definitely confirms it, Piccolo is going easy on him. The Namekian is never one to stop someone from eating dirt during a spar.`

Gohan rips himself from the Namekian’s arms “Piccolo, why are you going easy on me? If you don't fight me for real I’m not going to progress at all.” He fumes arms clenched at his side.

Piccolo crossed his arms and takes on an air of nonchalance, but his words belie his casual posture. “Just because you are ignoring the elephant in the room doesn't mean everyone else is going to.”

Gohan’s eyes widened in shock “You, You know about -” he started but Piccolo interrupts him.

“Dende is the guardian of Earth and he keeps an especially close watch on those he is fond of, of course I know.” Piccolo scoffs.

Gohan blushes up to his ears and looks away from Piccolo “We don’t even know if it’s taken. He grumbles, wrapping his arms around himself.

“We don’t know that it hasn't though.” Piccolo countered. “Doing something that could hurt you or the little one when you haven't made any decision as to what you want to do is unwise,” he stresses.

And Gohan fidgets, of course, Piccolo is right, he’s usually right when it comes to matters of Gohan’s life, but that doesn't mean he has to like it. “I just want things to be normal for a little while longer,” he whispers.

“Just because you want things to be normal doesn't mean they are. You need to be careful until you know, until you make a decision, and that means no strenuous sparring.” Piccolo says, looking at him pointedly.

Gohan slumps `"You're right.” he breathes, and he was so dumb thinking things could go on as normal, of course, things were going to change, even if he isn’t pregnant, he still had sex with Vegeta, he hasn’t been able to look at him the same way since. In fact, he’s had some rather indecent thoughts about him. Thoughts he’s been trying to corral, with limited success. 

“Instead of pretending everything is normal,” Piccolo says, interrupting his thoughts “You should be trying to adjust to the new changes in life.”

“How do you always know the right solution to every situation?” Gohan laughs, moving to sit on the white tiles of the lookout.

“I’ve been around for a while kid, plus I have kami and Nail’s knowledge to pull from. I’m just glad you're smart enough to listen to me.” Piccolo says settling down efficiently next to Gohan. “Now why don't we meditate so you can get your thoughts in order,” Piccolo suggests.

“That’s just what I was gonna say,” Gohan responds with an open smile. Then he straightens his back and lays his hands on his knees, takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes.

Piccolo watches the younger man for a minute, making sure he has settled into the meditation successfully before closing his eyes and joining him.

* * *

C’mon Gohan, we've been studying for hours.” Videl whines. “Let’s take a break.”

“Just let me finish this sentence. '' Gohan plies, but Videl has had enough and she takes the pen from his hand. “Hey-” Gohan starts but Videl interrupts him.

“Nope, I’m sure your essay is already flawless, plus it’s like three pages longer than it needs to be. We’re taking a break and getting something to eat.” She says as she dances away from Gohan with his pen. He half-heartedly tries to get it back but gives up when she puts the pen behind her ear.

“Alright fine.” Gohan capitulates and follows Videl out of the room. They are studying at Videl’s place, and even though Gohan has been here a number of times, he still needs her to guide him around. The place is Massive, it rivals Grandpa Ox’s castle and he has only been there for a few events. He follows Videl downstairs and through a few twists and turns until they arrive in a massive kitchen. His mother would love it, it has enough room to prepare a banquet in it. Videl makes her way to the refrigerator and hums as she looks through it.

“Do you want fish or steak?” She asks while digging through the refrigerator. Then she laughs to herself. “Nevermind, I know the answer to that, you’ll eat both.”

Gohan laughs nervously and replies. “I’ll eat pretty much anything you put in front of me, I’m not picky.” as Videl takes a few dishes out of the refrigerator and sets them on the island in the middle of the kitchen. She’s humming a song that sounds familiar to Gohan, but he can’t quite place it as she puts two dishes in her massive microwave. She sets the timer for two minutes and then moves to the pantry. She grabs a bag of chips to snack on and sits across from Gohan and grabs a few chips.

“So what topic did you choose for your essay?” She asks as she starts snacking. 

“I choose to focus on Demon King Piccolo’s attack on sector 28. It’s an interesting subject and I kinda have inside information on that.” He laughs and takes a few chips for himself.

“Oh yeah, Piccolo is his descendant right?” She says, her head tilted to the side.

“Yeah, that and my Dad was the one to defeat him.” Gohan hums.

Videl puts her chips down and stares at him for a moment. “I know you were at some of the major disasters of the last ten years, but I forget that your dad was at the center of even more of them. You could write textbooks on the subject.”

Gohan laughs nervously “Yeah but then I would have to explain why I was there.” 

The microwave beeps and Videl grabs the two dishes out and puts two more in. She grabs utensils from one of the many drawers in the kitchen and hands a frock and a knife to Gohan while taking her own. “You know you could always publish anonymously.” She pointed out

“The publisher would still know that I was the one to write them. I just don't want any chance that the information could get out.” Gohan noted.

“That’s true,” Videl says, she doesn't sound convinced, but she lets the subject drop.

Gohan starts eating in earnest, apparently, his essay writing had distracted him from exactly how hungry he was. “What are you writing on?” he asks.

Videl frowns, “The teacher tried to convince me to write on the cell games, but I shot that down pretty quickly, I decided to write on the rise of Capsule technology. It’s a fascinating topic and I have the inside scoop through you.” She smiles at him. “Bulma was really excited to help, Dr. Briefs helped too, but he seemed distracted.’   


Gohan smiles “Yeah Dr. Briefs is always sort of distracted. He’s always working on a couple of different projects in his head at any given time.”

They continue to talk about their essays as they eat and the food dwindles down to just one serving of fish. As Gohan is finishing it off Videl’s mouth quirks “Hmmm, this meal is missing something.”

“I don’t know, it seems pretty complete to me,” Gohan says

"No, No, It is definitely missing something.” Videl says and moves to the fridge. She digs around in it for a few minutes before going “Aha!” as she finds what she was looking for. She emerges with a can of pickles. “No study time snack is complete without pickles,” she states and gets a good grip on the lid. She twists it open and the smell of vinegar and pickled cucumbers fills the room.

Gohan covers his nose as the pungent smell assaults his nose. His stomach swoops worryingly as Videl comes closer and closer with her prize. Gohan knocks his chair over as he stands up abruptly and backs up. 

“Gohan?” Videl asked, concerned. 

But Gohan is too busy quite literally trying to keep his lunch down to answer his girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, his silence concerns her and she comes even closer. Gohan bolts, looking for the closest bathroom. Luckily the first room he enters is a one, and he falls to his knees in front of the toilet and heaves. He gags as everything he just ate comes back up. After a few minutes, he feels someone rubbing his back as he continues to heave. It feels like it goes on forever, but eventually, all he is hacking up is bile. Videl hands him a cup of water and he swishes some around his mouth and spits it back into the toilet. He wobbles as he gets his feet back under him and flushes the toilet. 

‘Are you okay?” Videl asks, putting a hand on his back to steady him. 

“Yeah,” Gohan warbles “the smell of the Pickles just,“ he gestures at the toilet.

“Yeah.” Videl agrees. Gohan takes a step forward and immediately stops as his head spins.

“Woah, easy there,” Videl says as she steadies him. “I think you should lay down Gohan.”

Gohan feels like he might vomit again if he opens his mouth to answer, so he just nods. They make their way slowly back up to Videl’s room where she pulls down the bedding and helps him into bed. After he's laying down she tucks him in. “Thanks,” Gohan says softly as his eyelids droop. 

‘I’ll call your mom and tell her you're going to be late, you just rest okay?” Videl says as Gohan drifts off.

* * *

It isn't until Gohan wakes up that the thought occurs to him. While his sensitivity to smells had definitely gone up since he got his tail back, a reaction like this hadn’t happened. It was firmly in the camp of pregnancy symptoms. It lived in a little list in his head by fatigue, and now that list has two little checks by it. Gohan puts a hand over his eyes and as he is laying in Videl’s bed as it adds up in his head. One symptom is a coincidence, but two, two probably means he’s pregnant.

“Gohan?” Videl asks softly.

“Yeah” He responds, and his voice is soft and hoarse.

“Are you okay?” She asks and her hand starts running through his hair. 

And he really isn't right now, but there isn't anything he can do about it, so he blurts out the first thing he thinks of “I Think I’m Pregnant.”

And everything is silent for a minute while Videl runs her hand through his hair. Then she quietly responds with “I thought you might be. You fell asleep in class. I wanted to think it was just stress, but…” She releases a sigh “You’ve never fallen asleep in class before, even when Siayaman stuff kept you up late.”

Quiet comes over the room again as they both just breathe “I Don’t know what I want to do.” Gohan admits. He opens his eye and reaches for the hand Videl is running through his hair. He grasps it and squeezes and she squeezes back.

“You don't have to make a decision, I mean we aren’t even sure yet-”

Gohan laughs bitterly, “I’m pretty damn sure Videl.”

‘I know but Bulma hasn't confirmed it yet. And she can't do it for another week or so. So you still have time to think about it. And you know I will support you either way, right? Whatever you want to do I'll be there for okay?” She reassures.

Gohan Squeezes her hand again and sighs. “Why don't we finish our essays, it’s getting late.”

Videl gives him a lopsided smile. “Okay, we can knock them out tonight, and then we can trade and look over each others. Although I don’t know that I’ll have much feedback for you, You're great at essay writing.”

Gohan sits up and gives her a stern look. “Videl don’t talk down about yourself.”

‘I wasn’t” She defends.

Gohan huffs, ‘I Know you and you were thinking your essay wouldn't be up to snuff. My Mom has been homeschooling me since I was three, and she is a little intense about it, but that doesn't mean that what you know isn't valid, that you aren't smart. Your brilliant Videl and don't ever forget it.”

Videl blushes and quietly says “Thanks Gohan.” and they both settle in to finish their homework.

* * *

Gohan is sitting nervously in the medical wing of Capsule corp waiting for Bulma to wheel in the ultrasound machine. Videl squeezes his hand from the chair next to him while his mother paces back and forth on the other side of the room. His Dad is looking at the other machines curiously.

“Dad don’t touch that, that's fragile,” Gohan says as his dad pokes at centrifuge. Goku leans away from it with a sheepish grin on his face. “Maybe you should just sit over here with me,” Gohan suggests. His Dad pouts but acquiesces and sits down on the other side of Gohan. His mom continues to pace, and every circuit back and forth makes him tenser. He visibly jumps when the door opens.

Bulma comes in pushing the ultrasound machine in front of her. Gohan is surprised to see Vegeta following behind her. Bulma moves to the middle of the room and sets the machine near the examination table. Vegeta peels off to the far corner of the room and leans against the wall, putting on an air of unconcern.

“Well Gohan,” Bulma says as she pats the exam table “Let's get this show on the road.” Gohan stands up from his chair and determinedly walks over and jumps up on the table. “Shirt off, we don't’ want to get the gel all over it,” Bulma says and Gohan hesitates nervously, but then in one swift movement, he pulls off his shirt and sets it behind himself, and lays down.

“Okay we're just gonna get you all gelled up.” and Gohan tenses ready for it to be cold, but he is surprised when it isn't. Buma winks "It has an built in warmer, only the best tech for Capsulecorp.” While Gohan is distracted by the gel Videl and his mother come up to the table, His mother reaches her hand out to him and he grasps it. Videl smiles at him from the other side of the bed. Gohan looks around for his Dad and sees him bugging Vegeta.

“Okay, here we go” Bulma chirps as she presses the wand down on his abdomen. The room is silent as she moves it back and forth over his stomach. “Hmmm, Well I see the well, the uterus, but no sight of a baby yet.” Gohan squeezes his mother’s hand and clenches his eyes shut. Logically he already knows he’s pregnant, but some part of him hopes this is gonna end with no baby in sight. The silence stretches out for a long minute before Bulma gasps and Gohans heart drops. She moves the wand back and forth over one spot and she sighs “Well congratulations Gohan, that is definitely a baby.” 

Gohan opens his eyes and looks at the small blob on the ultrasound machine, and there is a disconnect, he can't believe that that is inside him. But logically he knows it, and it is right there on the screen. The silence is broken by Chi-Chi sniffing and Gohan looks up and sees his mom crying, and he can't deal with that on top of everything else. His Dad must know what he's thinking because he comes over and Chi-Chi turns into his embrace.

Bulma puts the wand down and hands Gohan some paper towels to wipe off with. Videl comes to his side and takes his mother’s place holding his hand. “Well, now that we know that you're pregnant, you have some decisions to make Gohan. You have time to think about it. It would be best if we do an abortion before twelve weeks, but we can push it later if we need to.” Bulma informs him. 

Gohan feels dizzy from all the thoughts running through his head, but he already knows one thing. He takes a deep breath and says. “I Don’t know if I want to keep it, but I can't kill it.” Bulma opens her mouth to protest, and Gohan knows all the arguments, it isn't a developed organism yet, and theoretically, he agrees, but he just can't. “I know Bulma, but I can't.” and Bulma shuts her mouth.

"Okay, then we need a game plan". She looks to Vegeta ``How exactly does a male Beta birth go?” She asks. And Vegeta steps forward coming up to the exam table. He looks at Gohan and reaches a hand out. Gohan nods his permission and the older Saiyan puts his hand over Gohan's stomach.

“There, the skin here is supposed to be thinner, and during labor, it rips open.” Gohan blanches at the thought of it, but a little voice inside him asks if it's really worse than how he thought it was going to go. And he firmly agrees it isn’t “But the skin doesn't feel any different, and the coloration isn't any different either.” Buma comes closer to examine it as well.

“It’s possible that because he's a hybrid that he doesn't have it. Just like Trunks wasn't born with a tail, there's no way to tell what a hybrid will and won't inherit.” Gohan takes a sharp breath at that and momentarily panics because ‘How is the baby going to get out’ Before Bulma says “We’ll just have to plan for a C-section.” And Gohan releases his breath and scolds himself for not thinking of it sooner.

“I’ll have to do some vetting, but I can get a doctor to sign a non-disclosure agreement, Just give me a month or so,” Bulma says breezily. Then She turns to Gohan, “Your mother and I have the best idea of what this is going to be like for you, we both carried half Saiyan children, so feel free to come to us with any questions you have. But keep in mind that you are a Beta and things might go differently, so until we find you a doctor, come to me immediately if you experience anything unusual, and I mean anything.” She presses.

Gohan nods his head “I Will Bulma.” he says as he puts his shirt back on.

“Now, here is a list of things you are going to need to start taking, prenatal vitamins and such,” Bulma says as she starts writing on a notepad. When she's done she rips it off and hands it to him. “Ask your mom if you have any questions” She smiles “After all, she’s been through this twice before. Now, are there any other questions you want to ask?”

Gohan shakes his head. “No, I think I’m good, just - Can I have a moment, alone that is. I need - I need to process this.” 

Bulma smiles “Of course you can, just call us if you need us.” She says as she starts shepherding everyone out of the room. Vegeta is the last one to leave and before he goes he stops in front of the exam table. 

He looks at Gohan intently and says. “I want you to know that you can come to me for anything.” He stops for a moment and Gohan sees his throat work. “This child is first and foremost yours, but if you wish it, I will be there for anything you need.” He says. Then Vegeta deliberately grasps Gohan's hand and squeezes it before he turns and leaves the room.

Gohan is left with his mind swirling for a whole different set of reasons. He takes a deep breath, holds it, and then releases it. He definitely has a lot to think about.


	5. Chapter 5

Goten and Trunks are sitting on the ground legs crossed both looking at him with eerily similar curious expressions. Gohan knew he was going to tell his brother today, but he hadn't expected Trunks to be here too. He didn't know  _ why _ he hadn't expected it. The two youngsters were nearly attached at the hip, where one went the other followed. Trunks was going to have to find out sometime anyway so Gohan guesses it doesn't really matter in the long run. So he takes a deep breath and puts on his game face.

No better place to start than the beginning he thinks. "Do you remember when I was sick a while ago?" He asks.

Goten shakes his head vigorously "Yeah it was really scary. But you're all better now right?" His younger brother asks a hint of fear encroaching in his voice.

"Yes, I’m perfectly fine now," Gohan assures them, and Goten relaxes.

"Why did you want to talk to us about that if you’re all better now?" Trunks asks, inspecting Gohan with shrewd eyes.

Gohan leans forward on the couch and clasps his hands together. "Well uh, something happened because I was sick." He starts out.

But Goten's eyes get wide and he leans forward and he yells out "Did you get superpowers? Were you sick because of a lab accident with Bulma and now you have superpowers?!?"

Before Gohan can answer, Trunks leans over and slaps the back of Goten's head. " Goten he already has superpowers, we all do. Or do you think flying and shooting ki is something everyone could do?" He says haughtily.

"Ow Trunks that hurt! You didn't have to do that. And Gohan could have a different superpower, like um, like" Goten runs his hand over his chin for a moment while he thinks. "Oh! Like laser vision! Or up telekewhatsit!"

And Trunks leans forward at that too. "That would be awesome. Both of the boys lean towards Gohan and Trunks asks "Do you have superpowers now?"

Gohan sighs and says patiently "No I don't have superpowers now." Both boys seem put out by that but after a moment they both settle back down into their lotus poses and look back at Gohan.

"Well if you don't have superpowers, what did you want to tell us about." Trunks asks.

And that's Bulma's son, digging through all the small talk to get right to the point. There would be no easy way to say this so he just blurts it out. "I'm pregnant."

Goten looks confused but Trunks looks skeptical. "Nuh-Uh, you can't be, only girls can get pregnant."

"Normally you would be right Trunks, but you, me, and Goten are all part alien and it works differently for Saiyans." Trunks folds his arms and a thoughtful look settles on his face.

Goten, having enough of being ignored asks his brother "What's pregnant?" And goodness he figured by the age of eight someone would have given him the talk by now, but apparently not.

"Being pregnant means you have a baby growing inside you," Gohan explains calmly.

And Goten’s eyes go wide in excitement and he jumps up and runs over to Gohan. "Does that mean I'm gonna have a little brother?!?"

Trunks follows him over and gives the younger Saiyan a haughty look. "No dummy, you have a cousin." He informs him.

"Actually" Gohan steps in "You'll have a niece or a nephew. If it's a girl she will be your niece and if it's a boy you'll have a nephew."

Goten does a little dance of excitement and turns around in a circle. When he gets halfway around he stops. "Where is the baby?" He asks curiously.

Trunks opens his mouth to say something, but Gohan beats him to the punch. He takes Goten's hand and places it on his stomach "it will grow right here in my stomach."

"Oh wow!" Goten exclaims, then a contemplative look comes over his face and he asks "How did it get there?" Gohan chokes, He should have expected this question but he is completely unprepared. And he most definitely does not want to give both Goten and Trunks the talk. 

Gohan was worrying about Goten when apparently he should have been worrying about Trunks.

That same shrewd look from earlier, one that is painfully reminiscent of Bulma, comes across his face and he looks at Gohan and says *My dad put the baby there didn't he." And Gohan's face turns beet red and he flounders for something, anything to say.

"Mr. Vegeta helped put it there when he helped you get better?" Goten asks.

And Gohan manages to choke out a weak "Yes." And he desperately tries to think of something, of anything at all to change the subject but Trunks manages to do it for him.

Slowly a triumphant grin spreads across his face and he turns to Goten and crows. "Since my Dad got Gohan pregnant that means I get a little sibling!"

Gotens cheeks puff out in anger and he cries out "That's not fair I want the baby to be  _ my _ little sibling. If it's Trunks' it should be mine too."

Gohan puts his head in his hands. Well, it hadn't gone as bad as he thought it could go, Goten wasn't upset, but now he was going to have to play mediator to a fight. He takes a deep breath and sits up."Goten, just because the baby will  _ technically _ be Trunks' sibling doesn't mean it will love him more than you or that he will get to spend more time with it okay? It will love you both the same."

This seems to mollify Goten for the moment, But when Trunks looks like he is going to try to start the fight up again Gohan says "Why don't we all go outside and play tag okay?"

"You have to be it because you're the oldest". Trunks says, and Gohan breathes a sigh of relief over the fact that the topic has been dropped for now. 

* * *

Of all the things Gohan expected to be dealing with during his pregnancy, his Dad and his brother hovering around him had not been on the list. His Mom, yes sure one hundred percent. He expected her to be hovering non-stop. But while his mother had been attentive she hadn't been smothering, and instead, the men in his family were doing this. This was the third time his father had taken him fishing, and the third time he had resolutely refused to allow Gohan to do anything but sit on the shore and watch. Any time a fish bit, he would take the pole away and reel it in for him. If it was ridiculous before, it was slowly heading toward preposterous. Gohan was about ready to jump in the lake and rustle up some fish the old fashioned way.

"Dad, you do know I'm not an invalid right?" Gohan asks, and he winces at what is about to come out of his mouth next "I'm just pregnant." And he still wasn't used to saying it even a whole two months after Bulma had done the ultrasound.

"I know, but Chi-Chi says you need to be relaxing right now, not doing anything strenuous," Goku argues as he reels in another fish.

"By strenuous, she means sparring and lifting cars, not fishing. Why do you keep taking me if you aren't going to actually let me fish?" Gohan asks.

And Goku blushes and mumbles something as he pulls in his third fish.

"What was that dad, I didn't hear you?" Gohan asks.

And Goku blushes further and says "I don't like having you out of my sight. It just sorta feels wrong."

Gohan's eyebrows raise so far they are almost in his hairline. "What do you mean it 'feels wrong'? Gohan almost shouts.

Goku turns to him, his face turning serious. "I don't know, it just does, it feels like all my instincts are screaming at me to keep you within my sight. It's bad enough that I have to ignore it when you're at school." Goku scratches the back of his head "Come to think of it, It felt like this when your mother was pregnant too."

Gohan takes this in for a minute and thinks of how Goten has been doing the same thing. He thought he was just mimicking his dad, but maybe it was a Saiyan thing. Something like pack survival instincts or something. He pauses thinking of what to say. "I get that it's hard for you to ignore your instincts" Gohan starts, "But you’re going to have to let me do some things. I'll go out of my mind if you won't let me do anything the whole nine months I'm like this."

His father pouts but nods his head *I guess I can let you do some fishing." Goku concedes, "but nothing really strenuous okay?" 

Gohan smiles "I'm sure between you, Mom, Goten, and Videl, I won't even have the chance to try it."

"Good," Goku says and reluctantly hands the fishing pole back over to Gohan.

* * *

"Vegeta what is wrong with you, this is the third time you've destroyed the gravity room this month!" Bulma yells. "I told you last time I wasn't going to fix it again for three weeks, and I meant it! You'll have to get your training in elsewhere."

Vegeta stands there still vibrating with excess energy even though he had overloaded the gravity room’s circuits once again. No matter what he does his body feels like a live wire, and he doesn't want to admit why. Gohan hadn't been at capsule corporation in two weeks. Vegeta has gone two weeks without seeing what his hindbrain thinks is his mate, his pregnant mate.

"It's nothing, I've just been tense. I was letting off some steam and I was overzealous." Vegeta grits out behind clenched teeth.

Bulma narrows her eyes and looks her husband up and down. "You're lying" she claims. And Vegeta grits his teeth harder. Damn his wife's perceptiveness. "Tell me what's wrong." She demands. "You know if you hide it I'll just nag you until I figure it out, so spill it." Her arms are crossed and her foot is tapping. This does not bode well for him

Vegeta thinks, he could deny anything was wrong and find a sparring ground out in the wilds. But now that Bulma knows something is wrong she will most likely hold fixing the gravity room over his head until he spills his guts. He could risk asking her father to fix it, but if Bulma finds out before it's done and puts a stop to it, he would be in hot water. He could- He could tell her. Bulma has been known to poke and prod and tease, but she has never broken his confidence, even when she had not liked what he had to say. With that in mind, he takes a deep breath. "It is Gohan." Every word feels like it was pried from deep in his chest.

"Gohan," Bulma murmurs. And then something lights in her eyes, and Vegeta thanks Dende, he might not have to spell it out. "Gohan hasn't been over in a few weeks. Is it- do you miss him?" She asks.

"No!" He splutters "Of course not, I would not-"

"Yeah, yeah the great Prince would not lower himself to miss a third class brat." Bulma mocks. 

Vegeta involuntarily grasps his right shoulder. Then curses himself when he does so, it has become something of a nervous tick. Bulma the damn perceptive woman, doesn't miss it.

"This is about the mating mark. Do you, is this a big alpha man thing. Are you upset he isn't here because you can't protect him?" She asks incredulously. *Vegeta that ridiculous. He has Goku and Goten around him at home, and the boy can bench press semi-trucks, he doesn't need your protection."

Vegeta growls lowly *Logically I know that woman, but my hindbrain doesn't care!" He snaps. And at that Bulma softens.

"You know you could always go visit him." She suggests, and Vegeta scoffs at that. His pride wouldn't let him. Bulma rolls her eyes at that. "Okay, then you could ask him to come here." Vegeta stays silent and Bulma throws her hands up in the air. "Or I could ask him to come over to work on the healing tank project."

Vegeta smiles "You haven't been making much progress on it on your own." He smirks and at that a fire lights in his wife's eyes. 

"Don't push it Mr. I'll ask him to come over, but if you make another snide comment you are on your own." Vegeta wisely decides to stay quiet. 

  
  


* * *

"Are you sure you shouldn't be sitting this one out?” asks Videl looking around the gymnasium. Today they were doing weight training, the room was filled with benches for lifts, and weights on the ground for deadlifts. Various students were looking at the setup, some in horror, and others in excitement.

“Videl there’s really nothing to worry about, I can lift a bus without breaking a sweat, I’ll just stick to the lower weights,” Gohan reassures her. Videl still looks wary but nods her head.

“Alright kids, Partner up, we’re going to start with the bench.” calls the gym teacher. A tall boy from another class makes to come over to Videl, but before he can do it, she quickly stands closer to Gohan. The other boy, Gohan thinks his name was Dwight, scowls their way. 

Videl lays down on the bench and looks to Gohan “Load me up!” She says with confidence. And Gohan does just that. He loads the weight to 150 pounds. Videl puts her hands on the bar, and without even grunting, lifts the bar up. Gohan keeps his hands in place under it to catch it if need be, but he highly doubts that will be necessary. Videl does a rep of twenty and then sets the bar back down, and some kids stare in wonder because she hasn’t even broken a sweat. “Your turn.” She says cheerfully. 

She jumps off the bench and Gohan swiftly switches places with her. He wiggles around on the bench trying to get comfortable, lying down directly on top of his tail is not pleasant. He looks to see if anyone is looking and swiftly moves his tail to be wrapped around his hips. “Okay, you should put on a few more pounds.” He suggests, but Videl frowns at that.

“Why don't we just start with that. You don't want to look too suspicious to everyone else do you?” She whispers, and Gohan frowns, he knows on some level she’s right, but he also knows she is doing this to keep him from ‘straining’ himself. And this after all the restrictions at home chafes. He doesn't feel up to arguing right now so he just nods. He does a rep of thirty and swiftly switches places with her. When Videl gets on he puts on another 50 pounds so she is up to 200. And once again she lifts it all without a sweat. They switch off and he does the same. The rest of the period passes in this way and eventually, they make their way up to 500 pounds. By the time Videl gets off the bench the whole class is silent and staring in their direction. Gohan Shrinks a little under their watchful eye and thinks now is a good enough time to tap out.

“I think I’m done for the day.” He laughs and rubs the back of his neck. And it is said not a moment too soon as the bell rings. Everyone starts putting away their equipment and wiping down their benches. Gohan had just finished and he was going to get his bag when Dwight comes over to talk to Videl.

“That was pretty impressive today,” Dwight said leaning into her space. Gohan frowns but leaves Videl to deal with it. She can fight her own battles. He lopes over to the side where he and Videl left their bags and picks them back up. By the time he gets back over to his girlfriend Dwight is trying to move in even closer and Videl looks ready to throw down. She doesn't need another incident at school so Gohan smoothly steps in.

“Videl clearly doesn’t appreciate your attention, so why don't you leave.” Gohan steps in between the two of them. Dwight scowls and throws back. “And why should I even listen to you, you couldn’t even keep pace with Videl today.” 

Gohan sighs and says “Whether I can or can't keep pace with her has no bearing on this situation. She clearly doesn't want to talk to you so leave.”

“And she wants to talk to you,” He says incredulously, gesturing to Gohan.

Videl, who has clearly had enough joins back in. “Yes I do, that’s my boyfriend you're talking to.” And Gohan thought word of that had already made its way all through the school, but from the way Dwight's eyes bug out, apparently it hadn’t.

“What you’re dating this weakling?” I bet he can't even take a punch.” He sneers as he sizes Gohan up. The half Saiyan has no idea what he's on about as Gohan is twice his size. But apparently Dwight wants to push his luck because he throws a punch directly at Gohan’s throat. Gohan catches it easily and sends a harsh look Dwight’s way.

“Proving you can beat me would have no bearing on this situation. Videl is not a prize to be won. She is her own person and she makes her own choices.” Videl Beams at him for his speech and he smiles sheepishly back as they turn to leave together. But he was so caught up in the moment he didn't see Dwight turn a powerful kick towards Gohan's midsection. One second he is smiling at Videl and the next something impacts harshly with his stomach. It doesn't hurt exactly, but all of his instincts go crazy, half of him wants to take down the threat, and the other half wants to curl up in a ball and make sure the little one is okay. What he actually does is just freeze in place and hug his midsection.

“Gohan?'' Videl asks worriedly. When he doesn’t respond she turns to Dwight who is laughing.

“What a puny piece of shit, he can't even take one blo-” and Videl is on him before he can finish his sentence. She hits him with a right hook and while his head snaps back she swipes his feet out from underneath him. 

She crouches over him, fists an inch from his face, and growls “If you ever touch him again I will end you.” Dwight nods frantically and scoots back from her. So she switches her focus to Gohan. 

She scrabbles up and puts her hands on his face. He isn't looking at her. “Gohan," she asks and his eyes track down to hers. “Gohan are you alright?” and he is looking at her but he doesn’t seem to be hearing her. He is breathing incredibly fast, so fast that he might pass out. So she takes one of his hands and puts it on her chest. “Gohan I Want you to match your breathing to mine okay?” he looks at her for a moment and nods jerkily. She takes slow deliberate breathers and watches as his breathing slowly gets slower. She takes his hand and guides him out of the gym. He follows meekly which Videl doesn’t think is a good sign. She is glad that Dwight had waited until most of the class had left to start this shit. But she is under no illusion that the whole school will know tomorrow exactly what went down. But now isn’t the time for that, she needs to focus on Gohan. She takes his hand and slowly leads him out to the parking lot.

“Gohan," She says urgently, “We need to get you to Capsule Corp.” And Gohan nods but when she lifts off, he stays firmly on the ground. “Gohan flying is the fastest way to get there, we need to go!” She argues, But Gohan's feet stay firmly on the ground. She sighs and digs through her bag for her rarely used Jet copter, but before she can even find it, she hears a large boom.

* * *

One minute Vegeta is going through a kata in the gravity room and the next minute he is gasping on his knees as sheer unadulterated panic is coursing through him. He gasps as he tries to find out what triggered this. It doesn't feel like a flashback, none of his usual triggers were there, but nonetheless, he can’t stop his heart from beating a mile a minute and his breath from whooshing in and out of his lungs. He faintly hears Trunks asking if he is all right, but he doesn’t have the will to answer right now. With gargantuan effort, he manages to incrementally slow his breathing and put a barrier between himself and the panic swirling in his mind. The barrier is fragile and it feels like it will crumble at the slightest pressure but it is all he needs to really think. He looks at the panic, and it doesn't feel like his, he didn’t react to it by lashing out like he usually does, he shut down instead, and that is when it hits him, his arm flies to his right shoulder, this isn’t his panic. And that thought threatens to pull him down into his own ball of panic. 

Something happened to Gohan. He pushes back on the new rise of panic and closes his eyes trying to pick out Gohan’s ki. Once he locks on, he shoots up to super Saiyan and blasts through the roof of the gravity Room. He flies as fast as he can push himself towards Gohan’s High school. Until finally he can see him, outside in the parking lot with his woman. He slams into the ground and pays no heed to the cracks he leaves in the ground. He walks up to Gohan, who whines and immediately throws his arms around the Older Saiyan, his tail sneaking out to wrap around the Prince's arm.

Vegeta looks at Videl and asks “Woman what happened to him.” 

Videl gulps, he looks deadly in this moment, and she’s glad he is distracted by Gohan because if he wasn’t she has the distinct feeling that Dwight would be dead by now. “There was a tiff in class, some guy challenged Gohan over me. “ Vegeta scoffs at the ridiculousness of that, but Videl powers on. “When we turned away to leave the guy kicked Gohan in the abdomen, That's when he froze, he’s been mostly unresponsive since then. I tried to get him to fly to Capsule Corp with me, but he wouldn't leave the ground. Is it, I mean, the baby is okay right, I mean” Tears spring to her eyes at the thought of something happening.

Vegeta closes his eyes for a moment, then looks back at her. “I can sense It’s Ki, so it is still alive, but that doesn't mean that something else can't be wrong with it.” 

Videl nods shakily and says ’”I’ll get out my jet copter, we can fly him there. He doesn't want to fly himself and you seem rather occupied with “ Videl gestures to the way Gohan is trying to get as close as he can to Vegeta. Vegeta nods and Videl gets out her capsule case and finds her jet copter. She takes a step back and presses the capsule down then throws it. In a poof of smoke her Jet copter appears. She makes her way to the driver's seat then watches as Vegeta puts one hand under Gohan’s knees and lifts him up and crawls into the Jet copter.

Vegeta watches the landscape go by, not nearly as quickly as he wants it to. But all he can do is hold Gohan, Hold his mate, and try to soothe him. The blinding panic keeps trying to build back up in his mind, but he ruthlessly squashes it back down and tries to calm the source of it by letting out a rumbling purr. It seems to help a bit, but Gohan still isn’t responding to words. Soon enough capsule corp is coming into view. Videl swiftly lands her Jet copter and they quickly exits it and they make their way swiftly to the medical bay. Bulma meets him halfway there with a look of rage on her face. "Are you too good for doors now?” She rages ``There is a hole through our living quarters, a hole that I am going to have to pay to fix!” She rages, Vegeta pays no mind and passes her, leaving Videl for explanations. “Wait was that Gohan?” Bulma asks from somewhere behind him.

Vegeta finally reaches the Medical ward and tries to put Gohan down on the examination table, but the second he releases him, the panic builds up even higher and Gohan starts whining. Vegeta grits his teeth and wraps him up again, starting the rumbling purr anew. In a few moments Bulma slams through the doors and walks up to them all business. 

“Set him on the exam table Vegeta.” She demands. And Vegeta's jaw pops from how hard he is clenching it. “He won’t let me let go of him.” And Bulma doesn’t even blink at that. “Then sit on the table with him.” And at a time like this, he can do nothing but obey her. It takes a bit of a struggle to get Gohan’s shirt off but he does. The big problem comes in that Gohan doesn’t want to turn away from Vegeta's chest. Every time he turns him the younger Saiyan just turns right back again. They do this a few times before Bulma throws her hands up in the air and says “Just hold him still.” 

Vegeta does his best as Bulma applies the gel and starts going over his abdomen with the wand. Her face is grim as she goes back and forth over it and then her face relaxes. “We can see it right here.” and a smile comes over her face. She moves to take the wand off before she frowns again. She starts moving it back and forth again before she gasps. “Well I’ll be damned!” she exclaims.

“Well is it fine or not!” Vegeta snaps, his patience thinning.

Bulma turns and smiles at him “They’re both fine as far as I can tell.”

And Vegeta’s jaw drops. “Both, there- there are two of them?”

“Yep, it’s gonna be twins Daddy!” She teases. And then gets some paper towels to clean Gohan up. He’s still clinging, but he seems calmer, the whirlwind of panic that has been in his mind this whole time has calmed, and Gohan's eyes keep drooping like he could fall asleep at any moment. Vegeta scoots his way out from underneath Gohan, and the young man whines weakly as he leaves. Vegeta huffs and takes off his shirt and puts it on over the boy’s head. The other Saiyan’s scent soothes him and he falls off to sleep.

Bulma comes up to her husband and looks up at him placing her hand on his chest. “I’m still mad at you for putting a hole in the house.” She pouts her mouth a moue of displeasure. “ But I guess I can forgive you this one time. Trunks said you were in a right state before you left.” Vegeta huffs and turns his head to the side. But Bulma grasps his face and gently brings it back to face hers. She raises on her tiptoes and kisses him. When she settles down a sly look comes across her face. “You were worried about your mate.” And Vegeta’s whole face turns red.

“What- I - no “ he sputters until he takes a breath and gets himself under control “I was no such thing. I felt his emotions and he was panicked, I was perfectly calm.” 

Bulma runs her finger in a circle over his chest and humors him “ Mmhm, whatever you say tough guy.”

Vegeta tsks and steps back from her. “I’m going to get him in his bed, let him sleep this off.” and Bulma nods. Vegeta picks up the sleeping man and brings him down the hall to his room. He settles him in and then shuts the door. On his way back to the main living room he runs into Videl. He turns to her and asks “Where did you run off to?”

Videl startles for a moment before he turns to face Vegeta “Oh, I thought someone should call his family, so I filled them in. He’s alright though, and so is the baby right? That’s what Bulma said.” 

“He’s fine, and so are the little ones.” He confirms.

And Videl releases a big sight. That's good to hear, I was wo-” then she stops and her eyes widen. “Did you say little ones, as in multiple!” 

Vegeta nods again and smirks “Yes, there are twins, apparently he is especially fertile.”

“Okay first of all ew, I can feel your satisfaction from over here, so stop that right now. And second of all, does Gohan know yet? He seemed pretty out of it when I left.”

Vegeta’s smile falls “No he doesn't, he is sleeping off his shock in his bedroom. Someone will have to inform him when he wakes up.” 

“Okay, that’s fair I guess, I should -” Videl starts but she is interrupted by a sharp pop 

And then a sharp wail of “Where is my baby!” Both Videl and Vegeta wince as the sharp tones assault their ears.

“I’ll just leave this to you," Vegeta says and then makes his getaway as Videl gives him a dirty look.

* * *

Gohan is awoken from his comfortable cocoon of sleep to yelling, which isn't all that uncommon in his life, both his Mom and Bulma get loud when they’re angry. He sighs and gets out of bed trying to find out what all the yelling is about when it starts up again. And he is startled to hear that it isn't his mom or Bulma yelling, it’s his Dad. The last time Gohan remembers his dad really yelling was on Namek, so things must be serious. He takes a deep breath to steady himself and he inhales that woodland scent that calms him so well and is surprised to find that it is surrounding him. He looks down and blushes when he sees he is wearing one of Vegeta's shirts. He keeps it on though because he feels steadied and ready to face whatever is happening. so he opens his door and follows the yelling to its source.

He finds his Dad and Vegeta in the Capsule Corp sitting room which strangely has a hole in the roof. Gohan shakes his head and focuses on the two men. 

"No." His dad says firmly. "He's not staying here, end of the question. He needs to stay where I can keep an eye on him. What happened today just proves that!"

"He needs to be where he has access to medical treatment if he needs it," Vegeta argues back.

And there is a sinking feeling in Gohan's chest. He knows they are arguing about him, about what happened today. And Gohan's face burns when he thinks of how he clung to Vegeta, how he wouldn't even let him go for the ultrasound. And he would really like to bury himself underground and never see the man again, but it looks like he is going to have to step in and solve this problem himself because from the look of things this has been going on for a while. His mom, Bulma and Videl are all gathered to the side of the room, watching the proceedings with frustration. 

“I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about me like I’m not here,” Gohan interjects. Both men startle at his appearance. His Dad comes over to him and looks him over, going so far as to turn him around to look at his back. “Dad, “ Gohan huffs, “I’m fine, the baby is fine.” Gohan looks to Vegeta for help, but the other man stands there, his whole body tense, and Vegeta is usually the first person to try to put his dad in his place, so Gohan is curious as to why he isn't stepping in now.

Once Goku has looked his fill he pulls Gohan to him and Crushes him to his chest. “Dad, really I’m fine.” He spits out muffled against his dad’s gi. His dad continues to hold him and takes a big breath in. Gohan assumes he is taking in his scent. But this has gone on long enough, he pushes his Dad away and takes a seat on the couch. “Can someone please explain to me what’s going on, and why you two decided to yell the house down.? His Dad looks sheepish at that, but before he can say anything Bulma comes over and sits next to him, followed by his mom who sits on the other side. Videl sits on the other side of his mom. The other couch is left for Vegeta and his Dad who make sure to leave a large area of space between each other.

“Videl called us and your Dad used his instant transmission to bring us over here. But by the time we got here you were already asleep.” Chi-Chi starts. “Videl then brought up that you would have to leave school soon anyway and said we should ask you if you wanted to leave now.”

Gohan nods at that. He hasn't started showing yet, but he would be soon, and after everything that happened today, it was a good enough time to leave as any. “That makes sense. I guess I would just get my GED then.” Gohan says. 

“Actually Gohan, I was talking with your mom about hiring a teacher to come teach you at my place. There's no reason your education should have to suffer for this.”

“Don’t we want to hide the fact that I am an alien, the whole pregnant male thing would be a big hint in that direction,” Gohan says.

“No actually it won't be, there are plenty of trans men who decide to have children, so you wouldn't be any different. And the teacher will be paid to teach you, not to ask questions.” Bulma interjects.

“You've really thought this whole thing out haven't you.” Gohan marveled. 

“Yep, Nothing but the best for you!" Bulma winks at him.

“Is this what they were arguing about?” Gohan asks, gesturing to his father and Vegeta.

Bulma frowns and says “No, It’s not. What  _ We  _ were trying to discuss civilly before those two blockheads went at it, was where you were going to stay.”

“Where I was going to stay?” Gohan asks, confused. “I mean with my parents right?”

Goku shoots Vegeta a victorious look.

“Well, Gohan.” Chi-Chi starts “Bulma brought up the good point that if you stay at Capsule Corp you will be closer to medical treatment if anything happens.”

Goku frowns “We’ve already discussed this, If anything happens I can just use Instant transmission and get him here at a moment's notice.”

Bulma rubs her forehead and sighs “Goku, we’ve been over this too. The only logical way the instant transmission technique could work is if it breaks you and anyone you touch down to a molecular level and shoots you across the distance instantaneously, then it would resemble you at your destination point. And as I said then We don't know what type of effect this could have on a fetus.”

“Bulma you can't know.” Goku starts, but Gohan raises a hand.

“No she can’t know for sure, but it is a damn good guess. And while I love you and mom, I don’t want to do anything that would put the baby at risk.

Everyone shares a look when Gohan says baby, and he feels like there is something he should be remembering. But he pushes it aside, this needs to be resolved now.

“I know that your instincts are driving you crazy right now, but you’ll just have to put that aside. Staying with Bulma and Vegeta makes sense. And I can always come and visit you guys, or you could come over here. It’s not like I won't be seeing you at all.” Gohan continues.

Chi-Chi bursts into tears. “Oh, I know this is what's best for you,” She pulls Gohan to her in a fierce hug “But I’ll just miss you so much!” She bawls.

Gohan rubs her back and says “I know mom, but you should get used to it now, I wasn't going to live with you forever you know. Videl and I will probably get our own place after all of this is done.”

Chi-Chi just cries harder "Promise you'll visit?" She sobs.

"I'll come up every weekend okay?" Gohan reassures her.

Chi-Chi lets go of her son and dries her eyes. Then looks at him with a menacing stare "You better!"

"I will, I promise," Gohan says.

"Um, Gohan?" Videl asks, "what is the last thing you remember. 

"I remember making a complete ass out of myself," Gohan mutters.

And both Bulma and Videl come to his defense "You were in shock, your body didn't know what to do and you were looking for comfort and your m-" Bulma looks to Vegeta for a second before continuing. " Vegeta as an older Saiyan and the father to your children was a clear source of comfort. It makes sense that you would cling to him as a source of comfort."

Gohan opens his mouth to reply until his mind replays just what was said. "You said children, I- what did you mean by children?" He asks.

"Well, when we did the ultrasound to make sure everything was all right I found not one but two fetuses..congratulations Gohan! You're having twins!" Bulma exclaims.

"Twins," Gohans says in a daze as he falls back into the couch.

Videl takes his hand and says confidently "Don't worry Gohan we can deal with this."

"Yeah," Chi-Chi chimes in "You won't be doing this alone." And takes his other hand.

"I know, it's just a lot to take in," Gohan replies.

"Well you have a whole five months to get used to it, so you can take your time." Bulma chirps. Then she turns to everyone else in the room "Well now that we're all here why don't we have a big family dinner."

And even though Vegeta and his Dad are still glaring daggers at each other they still agree. Nothing puts a Saiyan off of food.

  
  


* * *

After dinner Videl sets out to find Bulma, she has some questions she needs answered. She finds her back in the sitting room taking pictures of the hole in the ceiling. She walks up to the heiress and when Bulma nods at her she starts. "Not that I’m Ungrateful, but how did Vegeta know to come get Gohan?” Videl asks. “And while we’re on that topic why did Gohan react the way he did to Vegeta. Something tells me it’s not just because he's another Saiyan.”

Bulma sighs. “ Well this was gonna get out sooner or later, I had just planned on later. And telling Gohan first. But my Husband is being thick-headed so we are going to start with you.” Bulma takes Videl's hand and leads her into her lab. “Please sit” She gestures to the empty stool across from her.

Videl takes the seat and looks at Bulma expectantly. Bulma rubs her forehead. “Well, I guess I should start at the beginning.” 

“That's typically a good place to start, “ Videl agrees.

“I think we are both gonna want alcohol for this conversation,” Bulma says as she digs through her desk drawer. “Aha,” She exclaims as she pulls out a bottle of whiskey.” She then digs around until she comes out with two glasses. She pours them both a large measure of Alcohol and hands a glass to Videl. Bulma takes a deep draw of hers and motions for Videl to do the same. Videl takes a much smaller sip and makes a face at the taste. “Yeah, whiskey is something of an acquired taste, sorry I don't carry anything weaker in my lab. This is my ‘things just exploded and now I have to start over from scratch’ alcohol.”

After they both sip the alcohol for a minute, then Videl clears her throat. “So what happened?”

Bulma gives her a worn-out smile. “To put it bluntly, while Gohan was in heat he,- I guess the best way to put it would be that he bonded with Vegeta.”

Videl tilts her head to the side. “Bonded how?”

“In a weird-ass alien way of course,” Bulma mutters. “Apparently in Saiyan culture if you bite someone in the meat of their shoulder it creates a sort of Psychic bond. You can feel each other’s emotions and shit.”

“And they both did this?” Videl asks in a high voice.

“No, Gohan did when he was out of his mind in heat. Apparently, it was instinct. Vegeta managed to hold back.”

“So the bond is… it’s incomplete?” Videl Posits. 

“Bulma takes the rest of the drink like a shot, places her cup back on her desk with a loud clunk and shoots a finger gun at Videl. “You got it in one. Vegeta can feel Gohan’s emotions, but Gohan can't feel anything of Vegeta’s, in fact, he doesn't even know that there is a partial bond. My Lug head of a husband refused to tell him.”

“Why wouldn't he tell Gohan, he has a right to know,” Videl asks angrily.

Bulma softens a bit. “He said he didn't want Gohan to feel bad over it. And I can see where he’s coming from a bit. You know Gohan, he would see it as him forcing something on Vegeta without even asking permission. I get his reasons, But I still think he should tell him.”

Videl takes another sip of her whiskey. “I see where he’s coming from, But I agree with you, Gohan should know.” She stares at her glass for a long moment. “Should one of us tell him?” She asks.

And Bulma lets out a weary sigh. “I honestly don't know. You might not want to hear this, but I believe that Vegeta cares for Gohan. He has for a while, and with sharing the heat, being able to feel his emotions and his brain telling him that Gohan is his mate, he’s a little bit gone on him.”

Videl gives Bulma a long measured stare “How do you feel about that?” She asks.

Bulma laughs and says “I’ll answer if you answer the same question.”

“I already told Gohan this, but I knew I would have to share him. He cares for so many people, and he’s one of the world’s protectors. I knew coming into this relationship he wouldn't be 100% mine. And I guess if he still leaves room for me, If he still loves me like I love him, I’m fine with it.”

Bulma lets out a low whistle. “I did not expect a young woman of nineteen to have such a mature outlook on life.” She reaches out and gives Videl a friendly pat on her shoulder. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”

“And now it’s your turn Mrs. Briefs,” Videl says.

“Please call me Bulma, My mother is Mrs. Briefs. I was hurt at first when Vegeta told me Gohan had bonded with him. My gut reaction was to ask, why Vegeta had never tried that with me. He answered me saying he had tried. Humans and Saiyans aren’t compatible that way. I guess humans as a species are just psy null. But after I got over that, I thought it might be a good thing for him. He definitely needs more people to care about. He keeps his heart closely guarded and having someone else he can share it with would only be good. Then there is the physical aspect. To put it lightly he can't actually let loose with me. He would break me in half. Having an outlet that could hold up to what he can give out would probably be great for him too. I also think Gohan is a good match for him, they both are very cerebral, but they both need someone who can get them out of their head. Gohan has you for that, but the only thing that has ever really helped Vegeta do that is fighting. But I see him sometimes when Vegeta is sharing Saiyan culture with Gohan, and he seems happy, happy to have someone else who wants to know those things. Goku was hit on the head as a baby and lost it all and has no interest in getting it back. Someday I think Goten and Trunks will want to know, but that day is a long ways off. But Gohan not only wants to know it, he wants to share in it. I think they could be great together. And I've been no stranger to sharing my bedfellows.”

“Now that we’re on the same page, what are we going to do about it?” Videl asks as Bulma pours them each another drink.

Bulma makes a considering noise. “If Vegeta knows we're trying to push Gohan towards him, he will do everything he can to keep from being a part of it. He’s stubborn like that. I think the best thing to do now would be to let them both know we support them, let them open up to us about it, and guide them to each other.”

“I suspect we might need more days like this, maybe with more copious amounts of alcohol,” Videl says.

Bulma throws her head back and laughs. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine kid.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for animal death and eating uncooked meat.

“I know you haven't been Saiyaman since you found out you were pregnant, but you leaving school and Saiyaman not being around might help some people put two and two together.” Videl says as they are making lunch together in the Brief’s living quarters.

“Hmmm, I didn't think of that. Do you really think they might?” Gohan asks.

“Maybe not, but with how dogged I had been in saying you were Siayaman, some people might,” She says with a wince.

Gohan smiles at her and pulls her into his side and places a kiss on top of her head. “It’s okay, I don't blame you. We’ll just have to think of something.”

“Don't you know someone who can take over for you for the next few months?” Videl asks.

Gohan rubs his chin as he thinks. “I mean maybe, Krillin has his job and is way too short, and there is no way 18 would be seen dead in the getup. I don't really know what Tien is up to, but I don't really see him taking over anyway.

“What about the Bandit? He was up with us on the lookout during the whole Buu fiasco. Couldn't he help?” Videl asks.

“Well, Yamcha hasn't really kept up with his training,” Gohan says

“Does he have to have been though? I mean he is one of the world's top fighters, surely he can handle some petty theft and some bank robbers. Especially with the Great Saiyawoman there to guide him.” She prods

“You're probably right. And he lives in West city so it wouldn't be far for him to get to Satan city. And it is the offseason for baseball, he might enjoy having something to do.

“Looks like you're not the only genius around here!” Videl crows.

“Oh Yeah, Bulma’s one too you know.” Gohan jokes.

“Hey!" Videl yells and punches her boyfriend in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Gohan yelps, “I thought beating up pregnant people was frowned upon.”

“It’s accepted when the pregnant person is being a jerk,” Videl answers with a smile.

“Oh, I forgot about that clause.” Gohan laughs. “Anyways, I’ll get in touch with Yamcha soon, I’m Sure Bulma has his number.

The next day Gohan approached Bulma with his and Videl's Plan. “I think that's a great Idea Gohan. Plus that bum could use some honest work. He spends all his time dating different ladies and bragging about his unbeaten streak in baseball. I’ll Get him over here today.” She proclaims

And true to her word later that day Yamcha is sitting in the living room with Bulma and Gohan.

They talk about life for a while, but after an hour has flown by Yamcha says “Catching up with you all has been great, but I get the feeling that you called me over here for something more than a chat.”

“Yeah, I sort of did,” Gohan says and scratches his cheek. “I wanted to know if you could take over as great Saiyaman for a while.”

“Wow, you want me to play superhero?” Yamcha asks, then he gives Gohan a sly look, “Need some private time with your lady friends Gohan?”

Gohan turns beet red and flails his arms around, “No, definitely not that. Something’s just come up and I uh, can’t do it for a while.”

“Well, I’d love to help you out. How long will you be on the bench?” Yamcha asks 

“Um, probably five to six months.” Gohan mumbles.

Yamcha flails to the side catching himself on the couch. “Woah that long lil buddy, what did you do, knock a girl up?” 

Gohan turns an even deeper shade of red and hides his face in his hands. “No!” He mumbles from behind his hands.

Bulma groans and throws her hand up “I know it’s embarrassing Gohan, but just tell him, you're gonna have to tell everyone sooner or later.”

“Wow!” Yamcha exclaims “You really did knock someone up!”

Gohan stays stubbornly silent. So Bulma decides to intervene. “No Yamcha, he’s the one who got knocked up.

“Bulmaaaa” Gohan groans from behind his hands.

“You weren't saying anything Gohan!” Bulma defends

“Ha ha, funny joke guys, but what's the real reason,” Yamcha asks

Both Bulma and Gohan just stare at him as silence takes over the room.

"You, You weren't joking, Gohan’s actually pregnant?” Yamcha asks.

Gohan releases a long-suffering sigh and replies “No, it’s not a joke. Let’s just say I was more alien than we previously thought.”

“No shit!” Yamcha says he scoots over next to Gohan and pounds him on the back. “It’s weird as fuck, but still congratulations dude. Who's the lucky, uh … other parent?” He asks. 

Gohan would give anything for the floor to open up and swallow him whole right now, but Bulma is sitting there with a little smirk on her face and she is clearly enjoying this whole mess. “Vegeta” Gohan murmurs. 

Yamcha leans closer and says “What I couldn’t hear you there Gohan.”

“Vegeta!” Gohan practically yells and Yamcha flails back. He looks from Gohan to Bulma and when neither of them says anything his face goes slack.

Yamcha’s face quickly goes from blank to disbelieving “God damn it, first Bulma and now you? Does he have his sights set on all of my friends?”

Bulma breaks out in hysterical laughter, while Gohan sinks further into the couch. “It was sort of something beyond both of our control Yamcha,” Gohan mumbles

“Fine whatever, I don't really want to know," Yamcha says.

Bulma looks at Yamcha “So are you gonna do it?”

Yamcha wipes his hand down his face and then says “Yeah sure, I’ll do it for you Gohan.”

“Thank you. “ Gohan says. Then he gives the watch over to Yamcha and explains how it works and how to get in contact with Videl.

* * *

Gohan is showing. He has been showing for the last month and he officially hates it. Gone were his washboard abs, replaced with what looks like a little beer belly. He and everyone he was seeing knew that wasn’t what it was, but he still hates being, well so soft. He hadn’t been soft since he was three years old and it was definitely a change. It had gotten to the point where it was noticeable even in his more baggy clothes and Gohan was realizing that he was going to have to go shopping for bigger clothes soon.

He was looking at himself in a mirror again when Videl says. “Stop obsessing over your reflection. You look fine.”

“I look fat,” Gohan replies with a frown marring his face.

“You look pregnant.” Videl counters.

“Pregnant is another word for fat,” Gohan argued.

Videl throws her hands up in the air. “I know you’re used to your freakishly muscular body where you have like zero percent body fat, but you're gonna have to adjust to being bigger for a while. I’m sure you’ll get back to your normal fit self like a month after the babies are delivered so don’t worry about it.”

Gohan is still frowning and pulling his shirt down seeing if that would hide his belly.

“Jeez, Gohan take this as a chance to like eat whatever you want or something.” 

Gohan looks at her confused. “I mean I pretty much already do that?” He says.

“Of course you already do that. Your stupid Saiyan genes give you your fit body don’t they.” Videl mutters. Then louder she says. “Take it as a chance to eat things you wouldn’t normally allow yourself to eat.” Then she thinks about it for a moment “In moderation, of course, you still need to eat healthy for the babies.” Videl corrects.

Gohan is still Pouting but he turns to her and says “All right.”

“Good.” Videl says “Now what do you want to eat that you normally deny yourself?” She asks

Gohan tilts his head to the side as he thinks. “Well I don’t ever really eat sweets, If Mom has them around the house, Goten will get into them and you don’t want to see him on a sugar rush.” 

“Well, what sweets do you want.”

“Well, I love parfaits,” Gohan admits in a small voice.

“Well then let’s go get one!” Videl enthuses.

“Wait what about our homework?!” Gohan asks.

Videl rolls her eyes “It’s not like you were actually doing it anyways.” She points out.

Gohan blushes but nods “I guess you have a point. Where should we go to get a parfait?”

“Hm, I’m not as familiar with West city. Why don’t we go ask Bulma.”

“Videl no, we can’t interrupt her work just to ask a silly question like that.” Gohan protests waving his hands frantically in denial.

Videl again rolls her eyes. “Bulma has said multiple times to get her if you need anything. And she made it clear it doesn’t have to be a life or death situation.”

“I still don’t think-” Gohan begins, but Videl takes him by the hand and drags him out of his room. They leave the family quarters of the building and make their way to Bulma’s personal lab.

“Hey Bulma,” Videl says as she drags Gohan into the lab.

Bulma turns towards them and lifts her protective goggles. “Hey guys what can I help you with?” She asks with a smile.

Videl turns to Gohan and waits for him to ask his question. When he stays silent Videl huffs and turns to Bulma herself. “Gohan was craving a parfait and we were wondering if you knew of a good place to go get one in West city. I’m not as familiar with West city as I am with Satan city.”

Bulma takes off her gloves and stands up. “Well you guys are in luck, I just happen to know where they make the best Parfaits in the city.” Then she winks “and it just happens to be in my kitchen.”

Gohan and Videl exchange a look and then follow Bulma through the facility to her kitchen. When they get there Bulma opens her Fridge and comes back out with two parfaits. “Parfaits just happen to be one of my favorite desserts. My Mom taught me how to make them and now I keep them on hand pretty much all the time.” Bulma sets out the two cups on the island and then goes back to get herself a third one. They all take a seat on the stools by the island and dig into their treats.

“I gotta say, I’m relieved you had them at home. I was not looking forward to going out looking like this.” Gohan says gesturing to himself with his spoon.

Videl rolls her eyes, pulls her spoon from her mouth with an audible pop, and says to Bulma “He’s convinced he looks fat.”

“I do look fat,” Gohan mutters.

“No you don’t, you look pregnant,” Bulma argues. 

Videl points at Bulma and says. “That’s what I said! But he doesn’t seem to believe me.”

"Look Gohan, if your afraid of going out looking fat, which I gotta say is a ridiculous fear, we could always dress you in some of my clothes and throw a wig on you, then you’d just look like a woman who was pregnant Instead of a  _ man _ who is pregnant”

“Men don’t get pregnant,” Gohan mutters sullenly.

Bulma hits Gohan on the side of his head. “Don’t be transphobic Gohan, Men do get pregnant.”

Gohan looks sheepish and says “Of course, I guess I’m just not used to the idea of  _ me  _ being pregnant.”

“And that’s understandable,” Bulma says “But you're gonna have to get used to it, You aren’t gonna get any smaller Gohan, and you're expecting twins.”

“I know,” Gohan moans.

“It was hard for me to get used to when I was carrying Trunks. I was used to adventuring and crawling through the guts of machines. Getting used to being bigger and less mobile was a big change. I’ll admit I didn't handle it well at first, I was a little vain too, and losing my figure stung. But I settled into it. And in the end, it was all worth it. I had Trunks at the end.” Bulma confides

“I guess it’s just hard to imagine that there will be two living beings at the end of this,” Gohan admits.

“Just wait till they start kicking. Trunks kicked up a storm. He nearly broke one of my ribs. At least you're more suited to handle that kind of strength.” Bulma reminisces.

“That will be happening sooner than you think.” Videl points out. “Your four months along now, so that should happen sometime next month.”

Gohan knows that he’s pregnant, but it hasn't really felt real this whole time. Maybe Bulma is right and feeling them move will make him settle into this. He doesn’t think it will but he can hope.

“Thanks for this Bulma,” Gohan says as he finishes his parfait. He needed this, both the sweets and the talk. “We better get back to our homework,” Gohan says as he stands up.

“I get it, homework waits for no man,” Bulma says and waves them off as they walk out of the room. 

* * *

Gohan might be panicking a little. He was getting ready for the day when he realized that only two pairs of his pants would fit him and they were both sweatpants. He knew he was getting bigger, but he hadn’t realized he had gotten quite this big. And it hits him, he is going to have to go shopping. For maternity clothes. He doesn't mind shopping usually, but his mom and Bulma can turn it into an ordeal. But having to shop in the women's section is, to put it mildly mortifying. He ponders briefly going the rest of his pregnancy in just his underwear. But the fact that his boxers are getting tight too nixes that idea. 

Gohan steels himself and goes to find Bulma. He finds her in her lab, hip-deep in the insides of their prototype healing tank. “Uh, Bulma?” He calls.

“Just a minute!” She calls back and she works her way back out of the machine. She stands up and wipes her hands on her already grease-stained jumpsuit. “What can I do for you Gohan?” She asks.

“Um, I have a bit of a problem,” Gohan confesses.

“Well tell me what it is and I’ll see what I can do about it.” She replies

‘I only have two pairs of pants that fit.” Gohan says his words running together in his rush to get them out.

“Bulma looks at him for a moment then says “I’m surprised you managed to go this long without needing new clothes honestly,” Bulma says.

“I was hoping you might know of somewhere I could go that isn't' ... You know.” He says in embarrassment.

“A women's section you mean.” Bulma finishes for him.

“Yeah.": Gohan says.

“I know just the place,” Buma says.

“Really? Gohan asks in surprise.

“I keep telling you that men get pregnant too, but it hasn't seemed to stick in your mind yet.” Bulma reminds him. “There's a small boutique downtown that caters to just that market." And it feels like a weight has been lifted off of Gohan’s shoulders as he processes that information. “Why don't we wait until Videl gets off of school and take her with us. It’s always great to have more than one opinion on these types of things."

Gohan agrees even though he doesn't see the point. It’s not like he looks good right now, and he won't look appealing for the next four months at least. 

“Okay, now that that's settled,” Bulma says as she rubs her hand together. “Want to help me with some soldering? There are still some small circuits that need to be put together.

“Sure” Gohan agrees and settles in for some work.

  
  


* * *

Bulma pulls their car up to a small store with Belly Buddy Boutique on the sign. “Here we are!” Bulma chirps as she parks the car in the capsulation lane. They all make their way out of the car and Bulma re-capsulizes the car and throws it into her purse. “Come on!” She calls as she opens the door.

Gohan didn't know what he expected, but it definitely wasn't this. The store has gender neutral mannequins dressed in various styles of clothing. Some clearly feminine and others not. But from what he can tell they are all trendy, nothing like the shapeless things he imagined. A clerk comes up to them and asks. “What can we do for you today?”

“Well, this one” Bulma says motioning to Gohan ‘Needs some new clothes for the coming months.” 

"Of Course, what style were you looking for? “ The clerk, Gohan notices her name tag says Beatrice, asks.

“Um… something comfortable?” Gohan says, looking to Bulma and Videl for assistance.

Bulma laughs and Videl rolls her eyes. “We'll pick out some stuff for you." Bulma says and herds Gohan to the chairs by the curtained fitting rooms. Bulma and Videl start picking through clothes, taking some off the racks, and rejecting others. Soon enough both of them have a stack of clothing for him to try on. 

Videl makes her way over there first and hands him an outfit. “Try this on.” She says as she pushes him into the fitting room. Gohan dutifully puts on what she gave him, and as he looks in the mirror he is surprised to find out that he doesn't hate it. The pants are a trendy skinny fit that shows off his leg, but they have a knit fabric up above the crotch made for stretching over his growing stomach. The shirt looks like an ordinary button up but with elastic panels on the sides in a contrasting color that lets the shirt stretch. He leaves the dressing room and poses for Videl.

“Ooh, you look great in that!” She gushes her hands coming in to straighten up his collar.

“Really?" asks Gohan embarrassed.

“Definitely!" Bulma agrees “Videl definitely knows what looks good on you. That is going in the to keep pile.” Then Bulma hands him another outfit and ushers him back into the changing room. Bulma and Videl give him at least fifteen different outfits to try on and he dutifully models them all for them. Surprisingly he feels good in all of them. They definitely aren't feminine, and Videl and Bulma assure him he looks good in all of them.

Videl takes all the clothes for the counter and when Gohan goes to pay Bulma waves him off. “Please I should be able to spoil my godson sometime. Plus how else am I supposed to pay you back for all the work you've been doing on the healing tank?” She asks.

“You're letting me put my name on the patent Bulma, that's more than enough,” Gohan replies. But once again Bulma waves him off. He starts to argue again but Videl stops him.

“Let her do this for you Gohan. You don’t have to do everything yourself you know.”

“I know, but lately it feels like I’m doing nothing myself anymore.”

Videl gives him a loving look and bumps her shoulder against his side. “You're doing more than enough by yourself, so just let us help you okay?”

“Fine” Gohan acquiesces and grabs the bags as they are handed to him.

“Okay, shopping trip is done! Let's get back to the lab and get back to work on that healing tank. I feel a breakthrough brewing!” Bulma says as they leave the store.

* * *

Hunting with Vegeta was thrilling, where everyone else in his life was treating him like he was glass, the prince was still treating him like he was competent. Vegeta had let him decide on the prey and let him do the tracking. His skills were rusty, but he had the basics he had learned while training under Piccolo and he was slowly re-learning them. He was following the trail of a stag, Vegeta close behind him.

Gohan levitated off the ground and motioned for Vegeta to do the same. They came around the trees to a clearing to see the stag there grazing. Vegeta motioned for Gohan to fall back and Gohan did letting Vegeta take point. Then in a flash, Vegeta was on the animal and there was a sharp snap and the animal fell to the ground. Vegeta turns to him and says “The Namekian taught you well, that was some good tracking, we found our prey fast,” Vegeta says and Gohan blushes.

“It was nothing you couldn't have done.” He replies as he takes a seat on a nearby rock.

“That does not mean that you doing it is any less impressive,” Vegeta says as he takes out a knife and cuts open the stag’s stomach. The blood and viscera pour out and Gohan’s stomach rumbles. Vegeta digs around and pulls out what looks like a kidney. "Here," Vegeta says holding it out to him. And it smells wonderful, the metallic scent of the blood fresh off of it has his mouth-watering.

"Um, Vegeta shouldn't you cook that first?" Gohan asks. And Vegeta makes an annoyed grunt.

"On planet Vegeta, a Saiyan would often eat their kill fresh without cooking it. Also, the blood is good for you and the babies. Your body craves it. Bulma won't tell you, but I caught her eating raw meat multiple times during her pregnancy with Trunks."

Gohan hesitates for a moment but then takes the organ that Vegeta is holding out. He takes a bite out of it and Vegeta is right, it tastes divine and he quickly eats the whole thing, going so far as to lick the blood off of his fingers.

When he looks up Vegeta has a satisfied little smile on his face as he looks at him. And was he watching him eat? Gohan feels his face burn with a blush, but soon Vegeta turns away and continues skinning the meat. Every so often he will take a hunk of the meat off and hand it to Gohan, and he devours it. Soon enough the meat is drawn and quartered and ready to be put over a flame.

Before Vegeta does though Gohan says "Wait," and then the blush is back with a vengeance but Gohan pushes on "Can we just eat it like this?" He asks. Vegeta simply smiles that little satisfied smirk from earlier, and that look is doing things to Gohan, things that should only be reserved for his girlfriend so he decided to push it to the back of his mind.

"Of course we can, whatever you want," Vegeta says and hands another hunk of meat to Gohan. And Gohan had thought he knew what being hungry was like, but lately, he has been ravenous, a black hole devouring all food around him. Vegeta keeps handing him meat before he even has to ask and before he knows it all that is left of the stag is the skin and the bones. When he looks up from his meal he notices that Vegeta is unusually clean for someone who had been eating raw meat. 

"Did, did you even eat any?" Gohan asks. And when Vegeta shakes his head, Gohan burns with embarrassment.

But Vegeta is quick to scold him "Don't be ashamed, you are eating for three after all. I took you out here with the intention to feed you and that is what I did." Vegeta states his arms crossed and a kind look on his face. And Gohan's stomach swoops at the feeling of that look being directed at him.

"But aren't you hungry?" Gohan asks, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Not particularly, and I can get food at home. As I said this excursion was for you. You seemed cooped up at capsule Corp, so taking you hunting was a two-fold operation, to get you out of the city and to make sure you are eating right." Then Vegeta looks away from Gohan and a light blush touches his cheeks "and spending time with you was not an unfavorable way to spend the day." He says.

And Gohan is blushing again, his tail twitching behind him, they should just paint his face red at this point because any time he spends time with Vegeta that is what he ends up doing. "Thanks." Gohan says "for noticing I was going stir crazy, and for not treating me like an invalid. Everyone else treats me like I can't do anything and it's maddening." He confesses.

Vegeta looks at him consideringly for a moment. "It is true that you can't do all that you could do before this happened, but everyone is treating you as if you were an earthling, which you are not. Things like this, tracking game, or planning battle strategies, were often things that mates would do together back on planet Vegeta. The heavy lifting was left to the Alphas, but Beta's were not left behind at home to while the day away doing nothing." Something is burning in Vegeta's eyes and though Gohan can't name it, it burns him up too. "Of course I wish for you to be safe, but I also wish for you to be happy, and letting you do things that it is safe to do is one way to achieve that." 

Gohan's heart feels like it is going to beat right out of his chest, the word Mate is ringing in his ears and pulling at something unknown inside of him. He can't stand to look at Vegeta's heavy gaze any longer, so he turns his eyes to the ground. "Thanks, Vegeta'' he mumbles "this really means a lot to me."

And silence reigns for long enough for Gohan to think the conversation is over before a soft "You’re welcome" comes from Vegeta

  
  


* * *

"How was your hunting trip with Vegeta?" Videl asks as she brushes her hair out for bed. One of the perks of Gohan staying at Capsule Corp was that there were no parents making them stay in separate rooms.

"It was fine." Gohan answers and the flush that overtakes his face is telling, so she decides to push.

"That looks says it was a lot more than fine." Videl points out, turning away to look at Gohan through the mirror on the vanity. He was usually pretty bad at hiding things, but when he thought he wasn't being watched he was especially unguarded.

Gohan groans and puts his face in his hands and his tail bristles behind him before smoothing out and curling around his ever expanding waist. "I don't know what it was okay? Vegeta's just been so nice lately, I don't know what to make of it."

Videl feels like she's missing something here, like Gohan's tail is speaking a whole different language that she can't understand. She wonders if Vegeta would be willing to teach her. She leaves the vanity and takes a seat beside Gohan on the bed, prying one of his hands from his face and taking it in hers

"You're carrying his kids, of course he's being nice to you." She says rubbing her thumb in small circles on his palm.

"I don't know." Gohan starts "it just- it feels like more than that." And Gohan’s face flickers through a range of emotions before it shuts down. "It's stupid, never mind."

Videl takes his other hand and catches his eye "You know you can tell me anything, right Gohan?" She asks, and when a doubtful look crosses his face she releases one of his hands and tilts his head up to look at her before caressing his cheek. "I mean it Gohan, anything. More than anything in the world I want you to be happy, and I'm willing to do a whole lot to make that happen." She says firmly, her eyes never leaving his.

"What if" Gohan says in a small voice "What if making me happy would hurt you." 

"You won't know until you ask." Videl says, "and hey, I'm a pretty tough girl, I can take a lot. You've learned that first hand."

And Gohan smiles at that. "Yeah, you are." The room is silent for a few moments before Gohan says "I still have flashes from the day with Vegeta, and they are wild and passionate and nothing I could ever do with you." He looks up at her "Don't get me wrong, I  _ love  _ you Videl and I love every second I spend with you, but I also have to be so careful with you, and I didn't have to with Vegeta. And it was'' Gohan blushes "It was good with him, different than with you. And with him being nice and ughg just so sexy it brings all that back and I get confused." He says and his eyes plead for understanding. 

She is about to speak when he continues "I would never do anything with him, not again, I know how much it would hurt you and I would never want that, but I have thoughts and I can't control that." He looks down at their hands.

Videl brings his head up and says "I told you before that I knew I would have to share you." She starts softly "and I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to sharing you with Vegeta." Gohan looks at her in shock. "Like you said, he can give you something I can't, and Gohan" she squeezes his hand for emphasis" I want you to be happy. I want you to be able to have everything you deserve." She smiles at him.

"I- Videl, I - I don't know what to say." Gohan stutters looking bewildered.

"You don't have to say anything now, you don't have to make any decisions. But if in the future you do want to try something with Vegeta just know you have my permission."

Gohan beams at her for a minute before his face falls. "It's not like Vegeta would even want to do something with me. And I have to think about Bulma's feelings too." He laments.

"I had an illuminating talk with Bulma recently" Videl starts "you should ask her sometime what we talked about. And” she says "I don't think Vegeta is as out of reach as you think he is." Gohan still looks uncertain so she continues "I know I'm no replacement for Vegeta'' she says as a sly look comes across her face "but I can definitely get a strap on and try my hardest."

And at that Gohan's face combusts and he can't hold her gaze any more. He covers his face and turns away from Videl.

"Does that sound good, big guy?" She asks.

And a very muffled, very hesitant voice answers "I would like that very much." And Videl counts this conversation as a win. 

  
  


* * *

Gohan hadn't been able to make it to the lookout lately, so Piccolo had taken to lurking around Capsule Corp. He pretends he isn't checking in on Gohan, but no one believes that, least of all Gohan. Today they are outside slowly going through a kata that Piccolo had taught him when he was a child, the familiar motions are soothing and the burn of his muscles feels good after such a long stretch of inactivity. The kata comes to a close and Gohan makes his way to one of the lawn chairs. Getting up off the ground has become troublesome lately, so he doesn't join his mentor on the ground.

"So how have things been up on the lookout?” Gohan asks.

“Quiet.” Piccolo responds. “Dende misses you.”

Gohan winces. “I’m sorry, I'll visit soon, things have just been a little crazy lately. We’ve made a big breakthrough in the healing tanks, and I’m trying to get my high school diploma before I pop.”

“He understands, Just thought I’d mention it,” Piccolo says. Then things fall into a natural quiet. Piccolo isn't one for many words anyway and Gohan is used to sitting with him in silence. It’s been a while since he meditated, so Gohan settles into the chair, places his hands on his knees, closes his eyes, and focuses on his breathing. He slips into it like falling underwater. He focuses on the rhythm of his breathing and soon the world slips away. He focuses on his center and there are two additional specks of light alongside his own, and he reaches towards them fondly. Then as he touches one, something moves. Gohan opens his eyes and he feels it again. One of the babies is kicking him. He smiles in wonder and places his hand over the movement and laughs.

Piccolo opens his eyes and looks towards Gohan “The baby moved!” Gohan exclaims. Piccolo doesn't seem impressed so Gohan continues“This is the first time I’ve felt one move.”

“I’m glad that … makes you happy,” Piccolo says and he is clearly uncomfortable. Mammalian birth isn’t something he has any experience with, and from what Gohan can make out, it makes him a little uncomfortable. Gohan smiles, he is glad Piccolo is such a good friend. “They have bright ki.” Piccolo continues.

Gohan smiles a lopsided smile “Yeah they do.” And he feels happy. It’s not that he wasn't happy before this, but there has been so much anxiety around all of this, and now it feels like it’s lifted, if only for a moment and he can just be, and it makes him giddy, and a laugh bubbles up in him unbidden, so he lets it out.

Piccolo gives him a concerned look. “I’m just happy Piccolo. I’m happy and the babies are healthy and my best friend is here supporting me,” he explains. Piccolo gives him a long look, but he stays silent and they both relax into the quiet.

* * *

“You know sweetie,” Chi-Chi says as she chops onions for dinner. “You’re five months along now, you should probably let your friends know you're pregnant.”

The statement shocks Gohan so much he almost cuts his finger off. He steadies himself and continues chopping meat and replies “I was thinking of just avoiding them until the kids are born and just telling them the babies appeared out of the ether.” He’s half-joking, but the other half of him is very much serious.

His mother puts down her knife and puts her hands on her hips. “Now Gohan, your friends care for you, and I’m sure they would want to support you through this, and celebrate with you when the babies come.”

Gohan sighs and puts his knife down too. “I know you're right mom, I just don't really know how to break it to them all. And having to do it over and over again is kind of a nauseating thought.”

“Well you can break it to them all at once, Bulma loves throwing get-togethers. Just leave all the details to me and her!” Chi-Chi enthuses. Gohan narrows his eyes. He suspects his mother is just happy to have more people to gush too. Whenever she visits Capsule Corp. the constant refrain of her conversations with Bulma is ‘Grandbabies’. For someone who was upset when this first happened she sure has adjusted well.

“Okay, I’ll let you guys plan it all out. And don't forget to invite Piccolo.” Gohan relents. His mentor was never really one for big gatherings, but having his support there would be great. Plus he could glare anyone who caused a fuss into submission.

“Good!” Chi-Chi enthuses. “I’ll call Bulma tomorrow.

* * *

Gohan is regretting every life choice that led him to this point. All of his Dad’s friends were here at Capsule Corp, even Tien and Chiaotzu made it and they missed more than half of the gatherings Bulma put together. They were all gathered outside around a barbeque where his dad was flipping burgers. And while the burgers smelled mouth-wateringly delicious, he would have to go outside to get one. And outside was where everyone else currently was.

“You know, they're going to find out sometime, it might as well be now.” His Mentor’s deep voice comes from behind him, startling him so badly he almost bashes his head on the glass door.

“Kami, Piccolo, you scared me. We need to get you a bell or something.” Gohan says his hand over his speeding heart.

“Or you could pay better attention to your surroundings. “ Piccolo suggests with a frown. And Gohan knows what that frown is saying. It’s saying Piccolo trained him better than that.

“I’m not exactly in fighting form these days,” Gohan responds by gesturing to his stomach. “I’m not in the habit of watching my surroundings.”

Piccolo grunts in a way that clearly states he disapproves, but he lets the topic go. “So are you going to go out, or are you going to while the day away inside?” 

“I Just don't know what to say, and I don't know what  _ they _ are going to say.” Gohan sighs

“I never took you for a coward Gohan,” Piccolo says

“That’s not fair Piccolo,” he says 

“Then go out there and prove me wrong,” Piccolo says then he moves past him and joins everyone out in the yard. A chorus of hellos greets him as he goes.

‘He’s right.' Gohan thinks. ‘The only reason I’m not going out there is that I’m afraid of what they will think. Maybe I should give them more credit, Yamcha got over it didn't he?’ Gohan takes a deep breath and steels his nerves, then opens the door and goes outside. Slowly all the chatter falls to a stop as everyone notices him. Gohan steels himself and continues out and takes a seat by his dad and Krillin by the grill. 

“So Gohan, you drop your training routine lately. It looks like you've really put on the pounds.” Krillin laughs.

“Hey," Yamcha interjects. “Shut up Krillin, you don’t know what Gohan’s going through.” And warmth infuses Gohan at those words. 

“Uh, sorry." Krillin says, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. The yard is silent as everyone waits for Gohan to respond.

“Um, so I did sort of stop my training routine, but not why you think. I- uh, I’m pregnant.” Gohan rushes out wincing in preparation for everyone's reactions. Everyone is silent for a moment before His dad laughs.

“Yeah, Chi-Chi and I are going to be grandparents.” Goku chirps and hands Gohan a burger. This seems to Galvanize everybody and everyone starts talking at once. 

Krillin leans closer to Gohan and asks. “You for real bro?” and when Gohan nods Krillin asks “You mind me asking how?”

Gohan laughs and says “Let’s just say I’m a little more alien than we thought.”

“Well congratulations Gohan, are you happy?” he asks.

And Gohan takes a minute to think. It was definitely not something he was planning but he is happy. “Yeah,” he says with feeling. And then the conversation moves onto other topics. Everyone makes their way over to Gohan at some point and congratulates him or asks him how he’s doing. 

Eventually, Videl makes her way over and sits down next to him. She leans over and gives Gohan a kiss on the cheek. “Hey Videl, I don’t see Hercule anywhere, did he not come?” He asks.

“I sort of didn't tell him it was happening,” Videl admits. “I want to break the news to him myself. I just know he’s gonna make a big deal out of it.” And Gohan blanches as he imagines just how Hercule would react. He certainly won't be happy. “Hey,” Videl reassures him as she grabs his hand “Don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with him. He’ll do what he always does, blow a gasket about it then calm down and accept it.”

“Yeah,” Gohan says, and he’s still unsure about that. There is a big difference between a boy dating his daughter, and said boy being pregnant with someone else’s baby. Before Gohan can brood on it too long Eighteen comes over and pulls him out of his downward spiral.

“Congratulations Gohan.” She says, looking fondly down at his stomach. 

“Thanks Eighteen.” he smiles at her genuinely.

“If you don't mind me asking. Who is the other parent? Surely it’s not Videl?” She asks. And her voice carries across the yard and once again everyone is silent, waiting for the answer. And shit, Gohan forgot that if he told them he was pregnant people would inevitably ask who the other parent is. 

He starts sweating as he tries to think of what to say, but Videl makes the point moot. “Gohan and I will be raising the children together. But if you want to know who the other biological parent is, it’s Vegeta.” Eighteen’s face doesn't change at all but Gohan can tell she’s shocked by the slight widening of her eyes. 

The silence carries on for a few moments until Vegeta finally speaks. Gohan didn't even know he was here, but apparently, he was sitting in a corner of the yard away from everyone else. “Does anyone have a problem with that?” He asks, and a wave of menace is rolling off of him and everyone quickly shakes their head. 

“It was sort of out of both of our control,” Gohan tells Eighteen. “Apparently Saiyans who can carry children go into heat. And things got dicey so Vegeta stepped in.”

“Well,” Eighteen says as she pushed her hair behind her ear. “Regardless of the circumstances, congratulations are in order. Also, have you thought about throwing a baby shower?” She asks with a gleam in her eyes. 

And Bulma appears from nowhere and says. “Ooh, why didn't I think of that. Of course they have to have a baby shower!”

‘Uh,” Gohan says, but before he can get another word in edgewise, Eighteen and Bulma turn to each other and start planning.

“Gohan tries to interrupt them, but Videl just pats his hand. “Let them plan sweetie, It’s too late to stop them. Plus having a baby shower is a wonderful idea. It will help us get all the stuff we need for the babies.” Videl enthuses.

“I’m just not used to people buying things for me. I feel like I should be buying them myself.”

Videl gives him a knowing look. “Gohan even if we weren't going to have a baby shower, I would probably be the one buying everything. You don’t have a job yet, you haven't even graduated from high school yet.”

“I only have one more exam to take!” Gohan protests.

“I know and that’s great, but that doesn't change the fact that you don’t have a job. My dad is rich, with money I might add that should be yours. So just relax and let your friends help you. It’s a tradition for everyone to chip in and help with presents for new parents.” Videl assures

Gohan sighs “I guess.” He concedes. And Videl smiles at him and kisses him on the corner of his mouth. 

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go join Bulma and Eighteen and help plan the baby shower.”

Gohan watches her leave and sighs. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh so here is more sexy ties, this also features my first get sex scene, so enjoy!

In all of the symptoms he expected from his pregnancy the one he had not been expecting was horniness. All it took was a change of the wind and he was hard. It was almost like puberty again except somehow this was worse, because when he got really turned on he would …. leak. He remembered a lot of his time during his first heat, but somehow the slick that would come out of his ass was forgotten. It would happen sometimes with Videl, but he just pretended it wasn’t there and Videl took her cues from him. Now he was getting wet almost once a day, to the point that he was thinking about using pads or something to save him the trouble of changing his underwear. He’s managed to hide it from everyone so far, but he is only one unfortunate incident away from someone noticing.

Fortunately, the person who notices first is his girlfriend. They are sitting in his room talking about how Yamcha is doing as Siayaman, surprisingly well actually, When she lowers her arm and her shirt lowers with it and Gohan can see the curve of her breasts and he gets hard. He goes silent and shifts trying to hide it, But Videl is perceptive.

“Gohan,” she asks when he goes silent.

“It’s nothing,” He says quickly, but from the look Videl shoots him he clearly didn't believe him. 

She looks him up and down and smiles. "It looks like someone's happy to see me"

"We don't have to, I know you’re tired from working with the police and-" before Gohan can finish Videl cuts him off."

"No this is perfect timing." She says as she slides closer to him and brings him in for a kiss. She opens her mouth and allows him to deepen it and he groans as their tongues mingle, their mouths battling for dominance. They break apart for breath for a moment before he kisses her again and the second kiss is just as good. He brings a hand up and gropes her breast and she gasps into the kiss, then breaks away.

"I have a surprise for you today,” Videl says and she walks over to her book bag and pulls out a shopping bag.   
"Don't tell me you actually got a strap on,” Gohan asks, face burning.

“Nah,” Videl answers “I got something even better.” She sets the bag aside and pulls off her shirt. Gohan takes a minute to take her in before he follows suit and soon both of them are naked. 

Videl stands at the foot of the bed and one of her fingers slides into his ass, and it feels good, but he's also embarrassed. In their past encounters, they had just ignored the slick that came out of him, and now Videl is actively encouraging more to come out. After another moment she inserts another finger and crooks them in just the right way that it brushes his prostate and he cries out. After a few more strokes she removes her fingers and Gohan almost whines in protest, but then he feels something else nudge against his hole, he tries to look and see what it is, but he can’t see past his stomach. Videl pushes it in until it is seated fully inside of him, a flat bottom keeping it from sliding in further and it is just touching his prostate.

“Videl?” he asks a little nervously, but she just climbs on top of him and grabs his dick. She slides a condom down on him and even that light touch sets him off. “We definitely don’t want anyone else pregnant in this relationship." Videl jokes and it makes Gohan laugh and relax for a moment. Then she slides down onto his cock and they both groan. Her tight heat enclosed all around him feels incredible. It’s just what he needed and he has no idea why he didn’t talk to her sooner. She raises and lowers herself a few times before she finds a rhythm that has them both gasping. Gohan tries thrusting up into her, but his stomach makes it a little awkward, so he just sits back and lets her do the work. 

He raises a hand and massages her breast, using a finger to flick a nipple and Videl gasped sharply. Then Videl smiles wickedly and grabs something she set on the side of the bed, he doesn't get a good look at it, but it looks like a small blue remote, but all thought of what it soon leaves his mind as whatever she had put inside him earlier starts to vibrate. He cries out as the toy hits his prostate over and over again, and with Videl clenching on top of him his orgasm starts building all too quickly. He wants to make this good for her too, but between both sensations, all he can do is moan and let the pleasure build higher and higher until it is almost overwhelming. He tries to hold back. He knows Videl hasn't come yet, and he wants her to feel as good as he does, but he doesn't think he can hold on.

Videl leans down towards him and commands “Come for me Gohan.” And with her permission, he lets go and has one of the most mind blowing orgasms of his life. When he comes down the toy is still buzzing inside of him and he whines. “Oops, sorry Gohan,” Videl says, and she clicks a button on her little remote and the toy stops moving. She climbs off of him and takes the condom off, ties it, and throws it away. “So did you like my surprise?” She asks as she pulls the toy out. And Gohan burns in embarrassment as slick gushes out of his hole and stains the sheets, but Videl doesn’t seem to mind, she just sets the toy on the desk and climbs back into bed with Gohan She comes back over and lays back down next to him.

“It was amazing,” he says honestly, but then he turns to face Videl. “But you didn’t come.” he frowns.

“Gohan, you are a very attentive lover, and what we did do was great, I’m fine.” She assures him, but Gohan still frowns and slides his hand down her side until he gets to her womanhood.

“Let me make you feel good too.” He says. 

Videl laughs and says “Okay.” 

He would usually go down on her, but his stomach makes that an awkward option to say the least, so his hands are gonna have to do for now. He slips two of his fingers inside her and starts pumping them in and out and Videl moans in approval. He turns to the side and pulls one of her nipples into his mouth and she gasps and grabs the back of his head. He pumps his fingers in deeper and crooks them to hit that spot and draws a cry out of Videl. He brings his mouth off on her breast and brings up his other hand to pinch it and Videl arches into it. He brings his mouth up and starts kissing her shoulder before he sucks a long drawn out hickey, something in his hindbrain is telling him to bite down, but he doesn’t as he knows Videl isn't really into pain. He speeds his fingers up curling his own fingers up like she did to him earlier, searching for her g-spot, and her breathing speeds up. Finally he brings his thumb to press on her clit, and after a few more gentle, circular strokes Gohan feels Videl’s walls clench around his fingers and she lets out a soft groan.

He pulls his fingers out and wipes them on the sheet, thinking briefly that he really needs to change them. But the draw of just laying here with Videl and cuddling in the afterglow drives that thought from his mind. “Thanks. For taking care of me,” he says and rests his head on Videl’s shoulder.

She runs her hand through his hair and smiles “It wasn’t just for you, it was great for me too. Seeing you out of control like that was really hot. We’ll definitely have to do this again.”

“Gohan buries his head in her neck and murmurs “Yeah”

“And now that I know you're horny practically all the time we’ll get a lot of practice with your new toy.”

And Gohan burns with excitement and embarrassment at the thought, but the excitement wins out and he says “I’m Looking forward to it.

* * *

“Something wrong, you’ve been tense lately,” Bulma asks as she massages Vegeta's back

Vegeta grits his teeth and fumes “It’s Gohan.” he says shifting a little bit as Bulma settles again on his back.

“Oh? What's he done this time?” Bulma asks digging her thumbs into the meat of Vegeta’s shoulder.

“He’s been … distracting lately.” Vegeta hedges.

“And that’s different from usual how?" Bulma asks and Vegeta can’t see her, but he just knows she is laughing at him.

“I can feel him and he has been…” He starts but trails off.

“He’s been what Vegeta, don’t be shy.”

“He’s been aroused damn it, and it’s all the time,” Vegeta growls.

“Is that why you’ve been all over me lately? I’ll have to thank Gohan for that.” She says as she works on a particularly stubborn knot.

Vegeta sits up and looks over his shoulder at her. “Don’t you dare!”

Bulma holds her hands up in surrender “Okay, I won’t. But might I suggest that you do something to help Gohan with his little problem.” 

Vegeta lays back down and snorts “He wants nothing from me.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. The way he looks at you sometimes makes me think he wants quite a bit from you.” She tries to reason with him

“You think too much woman.” He says.

“And you aren’t thinking enough” She argues “ I’m just saying he would probably love a little stress relief with you.”

“He has his Woman for that.” He replies dejectedly.

“I’m sure you know that being with a woman doesn't always scratch the same itch as being with a man.” Bulma points out.

Vegeta doesn’t want to acknowledge her point so he stays silent.

“Fine be that way, but doing nothing isn’t going to solve any problems. Not about Gohan’s horniness or your feelings.”

They’ve had this discussion before and Vegeta has nothing more to say on the topic. Even if he did have feelings for Gohan, which he doesn’t really, all of those are a side effect of the bond, Gohan doesn’t want him that way.

“I wish you weren't so stubborn” Bulma sighs.

“Pot meet kettle” Vegeta replies, and Bulma digs particularly deep this time she pushes down. Vegeta very carefully keeps still.

“Fine, do what you want, just know I won’t let the subject drop,” Bulma informs him.

Vegeta snorts. “You never let anything drop.”

“And I wouldn’t have to keep bugging you if you dealt with your issues!” Bulma argues.

“I thought this was supposed to be relaxing, when did a massage come to be a nagging session.”

“Fine, I’ll let it drop.” Bulma relents. “For now at least.” and if that’s all he’ll get, He’ll take it 

* * *

Vegeta’s body is drenched with sweat as he does his three hundredth push up under one hundred times Earth’s gravity. In his base form, the gravity is grueling and his arms shake as he lifts himself back up from the ground. He is trying to empty his mind of everything, but the low buzz of arousal coming from the bond stays stubbornly present.

Vegeta growls and pushes himself up faster and faster, then suddenly his hand loses its grip on the floor and he is slipping. He barely saves himself from crashing to the floor in a blow that would surely break something. He sits up “Fuck.” He curses, wiping the sweat from his brow. He levers himself up and walks to the control panel and resets the gravity to normal. This clearly isn't working. The buzzing feeling that has been plaguing him for the past two weeks is clearly just going to keep distracting him. He uses a towel to wipe the worst of the sweat off and throws on a shirt before he leaves the gravity room

He is walking to his room to take a well-deserved shower when he runs into Gohan. He quickly brings his hands out to steady the younger man before Gohan can lose his balance. 

“Sorry about that!” Gohan laughs. “I wasn’t exactly looking where I was going.”

“The fault lies with me.” Veeta insists. He is relieved to see Gohan is looking well. But the arousal that has been plaguing him on and off all week is still solidly there. It definitely hasn't waned. If anything it’s grown stronger. 

“Sorry, did I interrupt your training?” Gohan asks

“No, I just finished.” Vegeta intones. He takes his arms and crosses them over his chest. His arms tensing in annoyance at being this close to what has been troubling him lately but not being able to do anything to fix it.

Vegeta watches Gohan’s throat works as his eyes take in the Prince’s arms, bulging with muscles fine-tuned for destruction. His eyes catch on a bead of sweat and follow it down Vegeta’s throat to his chest. And that is when it happens. The low buzzing arousal spikes and Vegeta bites back a gasp. Then his eyes zero in on Gohan as his nostrils flare and he smells that sweet tang that is Gohan’s slick. The younger Saiyan is so turned on by Vegeta of all things that he has started leaking. All the things that Bulma has been saying are running through his head, and it might be possible that she is right.

He freezes for a moment as he thinks about what he wants to do. He could act on this, it smells like Gohan would definitely welcome it. Or he could go on as he has been and leave things as they are. Just as he makes up his mind to try his luck, Gohan smiles sheepishly and says “It was nice seeing you Vegeta, but I’ve gotta go.” And he hastily retreats, leaving Vegeta with his thoughts.

* * *

Gohan is feeling peckish so he goes into the kitchen to get a snack, but when he enters the doorway he stops in his tracks. Bulma and Vegeta are in the kitchen, Bulma pressed back against the island, Vegeta's hands on her hips, and they are so close to each other they might as well be one person. Bulma murmurs something and Vegeta laughs, deep and husky. And the sound sends shivers down Gohan’s spine. He’s just about to turn around and leave, snack be damned, when Vegeta caresses Bulma’s face and leans in for a kiss. It seems to go on for ages, and Gohan can hear Bulma moan as the kiss gets more heated. The display in front of him is nothing less than erotic, and Gohan squirms as he goes from zero to rock hard in a moment. Vegeta pulls back from the kiss and starts working his way down Bulma’s neck, and Gohan should really leave, this is a private moment, but he can’t seem to make his body move.

Vegeta bites at Bulma’s neck and Gohan is horrified to find that he is getting slick. Vegeta pulls back and Bulma murmurs something to him and Vegeta looks over his shoulders and locks eyes with Gohan. He is mortified, but he still can’t leave, and for some reason knowing that Vegeta knows he was watching makes him burn even hotter. Bulma smiles at him and leaves the kitchen like nothing happened, and Gohan is just about to make a strategic retreat when Vegeta makes his way over. He invades Gohan’s personal space and the younger man backs up, but for every step that Gohan takes back, Vegeta takes one closer, until his back hits the wall.

“Were you having fun watching?” Vegeta asks, his voice dark, and Gohan swallows and stays silent. “I can think of something that might be more fun than just hiding around the corner spying,” Vegeta says, and Gohan must be dreaming. Vegeta moves even closer and he can feel the heat radiating from the other man’s body, and his already hard dick is straining against his pants. Vegeta cranes his head forward and his hot breath is touching his ear. “Maybe you want help with your little problem.” He says, and then his hand comes forward and cups him through his pants and Gohan releases a long, low moan. “Is that something you want?” Vegeta asks, and Gohan’s head drops back against the wall with a thump. Vegeta squeezes gently and says “I’m waiting for an answer Gohan.”

Gohan’s head is spinning and he swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. “Yeah.” Gohan agrees “Yeah I’d Like that.” And Gohan feels Vegeta smirk against the skin of his neck and suddenly he is being lifted off the ground, and he places his legs around Vegeta as he takes him through the house towards his room. Vegeta enters his room and shuts the door with his foot, then Gently lowers Gohan to his bed. He stands there for a moment just drinking in the sight before him and Gohan blushes. 

“Do you know what you look like?” Vegeta asks as he runs a hand down his leg. Gohan shakes his head. “You are ripe with my children, proof of our union.” Then his hand drifts up his leg and gropes his dick again. “Hard and waiting for me to enter you again, so desperate for it that I could smell you across the room.” Gohan whines as Vegeta’s hand leaves him and trails back down his legs. He pulls off his shoes and then makes short work of his pants while Gohan pulls his shirt over his head. Then Vegeta steps out of his own pants in one smooth movement and crawls onto the bed. Vegeta kisses him roughly and his hand travels down his body eventually making its way to his ass. He drags his hand against it and Gohan’s hole clenches just waiting for something to fill it up. Gohan gasps as Vegeta pushes one finger in and pumps it in and out.

“More” Gohan gasps out as he breaks away from Vegeta’s Mouth and Vegeta obliges him and inserts a second finger, and god it feels so good. Vegeta’s mouth drifts down and he pulls a nipple into his mouth and Gohan makes an indecent sound. He played with Videl’s nipples and she loved it, but he never imagined that his would be so sensitive. Vegeta rasps his teeth gently over it and the younger man arches up into it. Then Vegeta’s hand changes position and Gohan gasps as he hits that spot deep inside of him. “I’m ready, Please Vegeta.” He moans and Vegeta pulls his hand out and slicks his dick up with the wetness on his fingers. 

He pushes in in one smooth moment. And things are awkward for a moment because Gohan cant pull his legs up, but after some maneuvering, he loops them around Vegeta’s hips. Then Vegeta pulls out achingly slow and then slides in just as slowly. Gohan Wraps his arms around Vegeta’s neck and pulls him back into a bruising kiss as he moves in and out still so tortuously slow. Gohan digs his heels into Vegeta’s back urging him to go faster and the older Saiyan obliges him speeding up and it’s so good. Videl is wonderful and he loves his time with her, but this feels so different, and he didn’t know he was missing it until now. Vegeta changes his angle and jerks Gohan out of his thoughts as he hits his prostate. Gohan cries out in pleasure and Vegeta picks up his pace hitting that spot inside him again and again. Gohan feels his orgasm building up in him, like a wave cresting higher and higher, and suddenly Vegeta’s hand is on his cock pumping him, then the Prince's other hand moves to grasp his tail and he touches it just so and Gohan closes his eyes and cries out as his release washes over him. Vegeta Pushes in a few more times and just as Gohan is getting overstimulated his rhythm becomes uneven and his seed fills him. 

They both breathe for a few moments catching their breath, and then Vegeta pulls out and lays next to Gohan on the bed. “Wow, If I knew spying on you and Bulma would end with mind-blowing sex, I Might have done it sooner.” Gohan laughs.

Vegeta frowns “You should know that Bulma is the one to thank for all of this. I had thoughts of ravishing you, but she pushed for it.”

“Remind me to send her a gift basket.” Gohan smiles. They lay there in silence for a moment before Vegeta’s hand caresses his stomach, and it's only just now that Gohan realizes that Vegeta’s never done that before. He had never asked to feel the babies kick even after it had become commonplace, and a stab of guilt goes through Gohan at that. Then as if sensing his thoughts, he feels one move. “One of them is kicking,” Gohan says and moves Vegeta’s hand to where the movement is coming from. Vegeta’s eyes soften as he keeps his hand there.

“They are strong.” Vegeta proclaims, a slight smile on his face.

“Yeah.” Gohan agrees “They’re pretty active too, sometimes they keep me up at night.” Gohan scoots a little closer to Vegeta and puts his arm around him.

“Let your father sleep uninterrupted.” Vegeta scolds Gohan’s belly. “He needs rest if you are to grow big and strong". In response, Gohan feels a kicking on the other side of his stomach. 

Gohan laughs and says “It looks like they’re not too keen on following orders.” They lay in silence for a few more minutes before Vegeta gets up and walks into the restroom. When he comes out he has a washcloth and he tenderly cleans them both off. 

“You should get some rest,” Vegeta says as he pulls his clothes back on.

Gohan is feeling sleepy after all the activity so he nods. Then hesitantly he asks, “Stay with me until I fall asleep? Vegeta’s face softens and he nods and then he climbs back into the bed and puts his arms around the younger man and Gohan drifts off.

* * *

“You seem happy today,” Videl says as she joins Gohan in Bulma’s lab. Gohan just looks up from the blueprints he was studying and smiles. “Anything in particular happen to put you in such a good mood?’ she asks.

Gohan blushes and looks around the lab to make sure they’re alone, then sets down the blueprints he was looking at. “Um, something happened with uh, Vegeta.” He stammers

“Oh?” She asks, her eyebrows rising. “What happened?” She has her suspicions as to what happened but it was too much fun winding Gohan up, so she continued to play dumb.

Gohan picks the blueprints again and shuffles through them, mostly for something to do with his hands. “We um, we had sex,” he says quietly.

Videl comes over and takes a seat next to him. “That’s great Gohan!” She gushes, then her face turns mischievous as she says. “Now give me details. Was he good?” 

Gohan drops the papers he was fiddling with and his face burns “V-Videl! That’s private.” he sputters.

“Will you let me watch next time?“ She asks seriously.

“I don’t think Vegeta would be down for that.” Gohan frowns

“I agreed to share you, if you won’t’ let me watch the least you could do is give me details.” Videl whines.

“Fine, it was really good okay!” He admits “Is that what you wanted to know?”

“It’s nice to know that the sex was good, but I was more interested in knowing exactly what he did, you know fuel for the future.” And Videl finds it cute that her boyfriend is so against kissing and telling, but it’s a habit she intends to break him of.

She leans close to him and whispers “Come on Gohan, I have to know what he did so I can top it next time.” She runs her hand over his chest. “If I don’t even know what he did, how can I hope to compete.” and the red staining Gohan’s cheeks runs up to his ears and down his chest. Videl smirks, she’s set the bait, now she just needs to wait for him to bite.

“I, He, um -” He starts stumbling over his words, then he takes a deep breath, takes another look around the lab, and turns back to Videl “he fucked me.’ He lets out. Videl leans her head back and laughs. “Videl what,- you wanted to know!” Gohan protests.

“Yeah, but I wanted details, I already know he fucked you!” Videl chuckles.

“Who fucked Gohan now?” Bulma asks as she walks into the lab, sporting her usual coveralls, and flawless makeup. Videl is going to have to ask her to teach her that sometime. 

Gohan groans and puts his head down on the desk and covers it with his hands. “Vegeta did,” Videl responds flippantly, and Gohan makes an offended noise.

“Is nothing sacred anymore?” he mutters.

“She was going to find out eventually babe,” She responds.

Bulma looks at them both. “I’m upset that I didn't already know. When did it happen? The other day when you were spying on us in the kitchen?” She asks

“You were spying on them in the kitchen?” Videl asks incredulously.

Gohan’s head comes up and he looks at Bulma “Of course you knew, you’re the one who told him to do it!” Then he turns to Videl, “And I wasn't spying, I just came in to get a snack and then didn’t want to interrupt,”

“I’ve told him to ravish you a lot, but he never listened to me before, How was I supposed to know he listened to me this time?” Bulma huffs.

“Gohan if you went in and didn’t leave, you were by definition spying.” Videl points out.

“Videl’s right, you were definitely spying, That’s why I convinced Vegeta to give you a show.” Bulma winks.

“I - what - you knew? The whole time?” Gohan sputters.

“Of course I did, you were right across from me, It’s not like I’m blind,” Bulma says offended.

And Gohan slumps down in his seat and murmurs “Kill me now, when I entered into this I didn’t think I would have two women to roast me instead of one.”

Videl laughs and Bulma walks over to her Godson and pats him on his shoulder “Aw, cheer up Gohan, I would have roasted you even if you weren’t fucking my husband.”

“Ah good then, I was screwed either way.” He says. then Bulma notices the papers in front of him.

“Oh are those the new updated blueprints?” She asks her mind now firmly on the healing tank project.

“Um, Yeah,” Gohan says, experiencing a bit of whiplash from the change in topic. 

"How do they look?” she asks as she looks over his shoulder.

“The wiring all looks good, I think it’s almost ready to go, but last time we ran a test this capacitor blew out and looking at this I think it might be because of the wiring over here,” Gohan says as he points to the paper.

Bulma makes a considering noise and says” That’s a good catch Gohan, I’ll get in there and look at it up close. Bulma runs her hand through Gohan’s hair and messes up the styling it was in. Gohan frowns and was about to protest to her about it but then Bulma continues “I’m glad I have your eves on this Gohan.” Gohan closes his mouth and nods. 

“Thanks for taking me in on this, it’s really fascinating.” He says

“And it will look amazing on his college applications,” Videl says bumping her shoulder against Gohans.

“And,” Bulma says happily “The money you get once this goes to market will certainly help with baby bills.”

Gohan straitens up and turns to her shock written plainly across his face. “I’m getting part of the profits?”

“Of course you are.” Bulma proclaims “What did you think, that I would have you do the work and not get paid?” She asks incredulously

“No, I- Maybe- I just thought I was getting recognition so I could use it on college transcripts.

“Gohan,” Bulma says, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking him directly in the eye. “You are an incredibly brilliant young man. I asked for your help on this project because I thought you could actually help me. Frankly, you don’t need this on your college application, you could easily get into any college you want without any help from me at all.”

“I” Gohan starts then stops and clears his throat. “ You really think so?” He asks.

“No,” Bulma replies, her voice confident, “I Know so.” “Now,” She says as she smiles at Gohan. “You’ve been in the lab all day. I heard from a little birdy that you finished your last final on Thursday, so I think it’s time you celebrate. Start with the feast my mom left out in the kitchen and we’ll keep things rolling after.”

At the mention of food, Gohan’s stomach rumbles and he blushes. 

‘C’mon big guy” Videl says, pulling him up from his stool. “Let’s go get you fed.   
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a super big thanks to stardust_Steele for sticking with me through this whole thing! and to Dulcinea for reading over things for me!

After Vegeta finally initiated, sex between them became a semi-regular thing, and every time Vegeta would spend the aftermath laying in bed with Gohan and they would just talk. It was nice, well more than nice really, and every time they did it, something grew larger and larger in Gohan’s heart. It got to a point that Gohan’s heart would beat faster every time Vegeta entered the room. It made him want to do things, like kiss Vegeta when he passed him in the kitchen, or spend time just sitting with him on the couch. And this was a problem because it was supposed to be just sex. Those feelings were supposed to be reserved for Viel and Videl alone. So along with the new feeling growing in his heart, a guilt started to burn in his gut. So the next time Videl comes to visit him he takes her to his room and gets ready for a hard conversation.

“Videl we need to talk,” Gohan says, and Videl looks at him and sits down on his bed. She waits patiently for him to start. “I know we talked about me sleeping with Vegeta, but I think it needs to stop.”

Videl tilts her head to the side and asks “I’m not gonna dictate your relationships for you Gohan, But I do want to ask why.”

Gohan Grasps the comforter with his finders and focuses on the polka dot pattern, The color is worn out on some of them from him constantly leaving his window open. He swallows and says “I’m having feelings. I know this was just supposed to be a physical thing, but Videl” he looks up at her guilt in his eyes. “It’s evolving beyond that and-” Videl silences him by putting a finger over his mouth.

“I’m gonna stop you there. I think you misunderstood me when we had our last talk.” She lowers her hand from his mouth and grasps both of his hands in hers. “When I said I wanted you to be happy I meant it. Whether that meant just a physical release or having an emotional relationship with Vegeta, I gave you permission for both.”

Gohan feels his eyes get watery and he blinks to try to fight back the tears. “Are you sure Videl? I don’t - I don’t want to hurt you. You are so important to me and the thought of you suffering in any way…”

Videl just smiles at him and says “Yeah Gohan, I’m sure. You know relationships like this aren’t all that uncommon, you should do some research on polyamory.”

“Then do you want to find someone else too,” Gohan asks?

Videl shakes her head “You are more than enough for me Gohan.” Then she chastely kisses Gohan on his mouth.

That is when the tears start to fall. Gohan reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to do this, but I guess there is no right time. Sorry, I can’t exactly kneel right now.” Gohan laughs and opens a small black box in his hands and Videl gasps. The light shines off of a ring with a large white diamond in the center surrounded by smaller blue diamonds.

Videl reaches forward and grasps Gohan’s hands in hers. “Oh My God Gohan It’s gorgeous, where did you get it?”

“I uh, made the diamonds myself, pressure on coal and all that. I had someone else cut them and mount them on the ring. So you like it?"

Videl looks up at him, her eyes watery “Gohan I love it.”

“So will you marry me?” He asks hopefully.

Videl launches forward and envelopes him in a tight hug. “Of course I will!” 

When she lets go, Gohan takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto her finger. Videl puts her hand up to the light and admires it. “I figure we can plan the wedding for sometime after the babies are born,” he says

And Videl looks up and says. “Leave the wedding planning to me Gohan. You just focus on yourself.”

Gohan laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “That works, I don’t think I would be any good at wedding planning.” Then his face blanches. “Mom is gonna freak when she finds out. Crap, Bulma is gonna freak when she finds out."

A wicked look comes across Videl’s face “Let’s not tell then and see how long it takes them to notice.” Gohan’s not sure that is a good idea in the long run, but the looks on their faces sure would be amusing

  
  


* * *

Gohan is seven months pregnant and he is officially sick of this whole deal. He’s had to go out and buy new clothes  _ again _ and he needs help to get up out of any low seat. He  _ waddles  _ now and he has to pee like five hundred times a day. His back aches almost constantly, and his feet are swollen, and he would just like to get this whole thing over with, thank you very much. He’s tired and all he wants to do is take a nap, but instead, he is sitting outside in Capsule Corp’s backyard trying to put on a happy face while everyone gives him baby stuff. The baby shower, Bulma, Eighteen, his Mom, and Videl had worked so hard on is happening today. And he appreciates the fact that all of his friends are here supporting him, helping him through this with good cheer, but honestly, he just wants to be laying down.

Videl notices his misery and takes his hand and squeezes it in support. “How are you holding up?” She asks. 

And he wants to be truthful and ask her to call it a day, but he knows how much work she put into this, so he smiles and says “It’s not too bad.” Videl gives him a disbelieving look, so he cringes and says “Okay, all I want to do is go inside and take a nap,” and Videl looks like she is going to put an end to everything so Gohan pulls her back towards him and says “But I can tough it out another hour okay?”

Videl smiles gratefully at him and says. “Just another half an hour, that's when we will be doing gifts.” Gohan nods and settles in for more of the same. Everyone comes over to congratulate them again in between games. Krillin is officially his favorite when he brings Gohan a large slice of cake. Eighteen starts a betting pool on the gender of the babies, which not even Gohan knew yet. In the last three ultrasounds, they had been hiding behind their tails. Then finally, it is time to open gifts. Videl helps lever him up so they can make their way to sit at the gift table and everyone gathers around.

Bulma assigned herself the job of handing the couple their gifts. “This first one is from me.” Bulma says as she hands Gohan a small brightly wrapped package that fits in his palm. Videl laughs at him as he carefully opens the package, peeling off the tape on an edge and unfolding the wrapping paper.

“I remember you doing this at your birthday party when you were younger, but somehow I though you had grown out of it. You know if you take this long to open every present we're gonna be here for ages.” Bulma says cheerily.

Gohan shoots her a look, but he acquiesces as he doesn't want to be here longer than he has to be. He tears the rest of the paper to reveal a small box. Inside it sits a capsule with a number 93 on it. Gohan looks up at Bulma waiting for her to elaborate on the gift.

Bulma smiles widely and explains “It’s a capsule house. But not our standard one, this is a little something I cooked up. It’s bigger than normal and has all the state of the art appliances and all the commodities you could ever need.”

“Bulma you shouldn't have.” Gohan starts but she just waves him off.

“I could so I did. You and Videl need your own space. And this way you can move wherever you want. There is plenty of space on the Capsule corp grounds if you want to stick around here for a while, and Mt Pauzu is definitely not lacking in space. 

Gohan opens his mouth again to protest, But Videl speaks first. “Thank you Bulma, that was so considerate of you. We love it. You’ll have to show us around it later.”

“Sure, it’s a date.” Bulma says. “But first we have a whole stack of presents to get through. She picks up a package covered with little storks and hands it to Videl. When Videl reaches out for, the light shines off of her ring and Bulma zeroes in on it.

“Oh my god Videl, Is that an engagement ring?” Bulma yells, dropping the gift she was going to hand her and grabbing Videl’s hand to look at the ring closer.

The commotion draws Chi-Chi and Eighteen over as well and all three women are oohing and awwing over the ring for a minute until Chi-Chi looks over to her son. “Gohan, why didn’t you tell me you were planning on proposing?” She demands, her hands placed on her hips

“I didn’t know when I was going to do it, Mom, it just happened spur of the moment.” Gohan offers meekly.

“Uh-Huh.” Chi-Chi says “and you magically had the ring at just the right moment?” 

Gohan laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “Something like that.”

Chi-Chi’s face softens and she says “Well I’ll let you get away with it this time.” Then she turns to Videl “Have you started wedding planning yet?” and all three women start hounding Videl for details.

Goku makes his way over to Gohan and pats his back “I’m proud of you son. Making an honest woman out of Videl.”

“Videl is amazing, of course, I want her as my wife,” Gohan says, his eyes softening as he looks at Videl.

“I know that look,” Goku says “And it’s the look of a man in love.”

“Yeah “ Gohan agrees with a lopsided smile.

The opening of the present all gets shunted to him as the women go off and talk to Videl about wedding plans, but Gohan doesn't mind too much, after all, the sooner this is over, the sooner he gets to take a nap.

Unnoticed by everyone else, Vegeta leaves the little corner of the yard he occupies and blasts off for a location unknown.

* * *

“You were out late,” Bulma says sitting in a corner of their room, her arms crossed and her finger tapping against her arm. 

“Hn, I needed some space,” Vegeta replies.

“You didn’t congratulate Gohan and Videl on their upcoming nuptials I noticed.”

Vegeta freezes for a moment before moving very deliberately towards the closet.

“I felt no need to, you were doing it for both of us.”

Bulma’s face scrunches up in irritation. “Vegeta cut the shit, why didn't you stay and congratulate them yourself.

“I’m sure now that Gohan is planning his nuptials he no longer has a need for me in his life,” Vegeta states, his voice even.

Bulma’s face softens for a moment before she says “Vegeta you idiot, you realize  _ we _ are married right? And what you've said doesn't apply to us. Why would it apply to Gohan?”

For a long minute, the silence lays between them. Bulma stands up and moves over to him. “Vegeta, is this because you think you’re not good enough?”

“Why would he need me when he has a wife,” Vegeta responds.

“We’ve had this conversation before. He gets different things from you than what he gets from Videl.” Then she gives him a sharp look “And this is  _ not  _ just about sex. Gohan enjoys your company too. After all, he did choose you to bond with.”

Vegeta grasps his right shoulder and stays silent. Bulma sighs, “Fine we don’t have to talk about it tonight, but this will  _ not  _ be the last you hear of this.” She says, then gently pulls her husband to bed. It takes Vegeta a long time to fall asleep that night.

* * *

Ever since his engagement to Videl had been announced it seems like Vegeta has made himself scarce. Every time Gohan is entering a room, Vegeta is exiting it, and if Gohan tries to speak he exits faster. All in all, it has been making this last month of his pregnancy even more miserable. He’s sitting on the couch in the family room, his legs up on the ottoman. He has the T.V. on, but he’s not really paying attention, it is more there for background noise than anything else, something to try to distract him from his thoughts, which are spiraling ever downward. He would normally vent to Videl, but the police are planning a big drug bust and she has been at the station every day after school for the past week. He has been sleeping in his bed alone and that has only added to his mood. 

He sits forward and moves a pillow behind his aching back. No position is really comfortable right now and he would give anything for a back massage from Videl, or the rare one that Vegeta used to give. He feels his eyes well up, and he takes a deep breath and tries to hold the tears back, but with his hormones going wild and everything that’s been going on, that is a futile task. He takes a shaky breath as the tears spill over. He holds a pillow to his chest and just lets it out. 

He’s been crying for a good few minutes when he hears “Gohan, What’s wrong?” in a soft voice. He looks up and sees the blurry form of Bulma. She sits down on the couch next to him and rubs his back soothingly. He turns his head to her shoulder and tries to calm down enough to speak.

“It’s everything. Videl hasn’t been able to come over this week, and ever since the engagement was announced Vegeta has been avoiding me like the plague, and I can’t get comfortable and I just want this to be over!” It all comes bursting out of him in a tumble of words.

“Let it all out” Bulma encourages as she runs one hand through his hair. He cries for what feels like ages before his tears run dry. Bulma rubs his back through it all, saying nothing. The tears leave him with a headache in their wake. 

Once his breathing calms down Bulma pulls back a bit and says. “I know it sucks that Videl isn't around, but she should be done with the police project by the end of the week. “And Vegeta '' Bulma frowns anger burning in her eyes “Is going to get a stern talking to.”

“If he doesn't want to be with me, I don't want you to force him to,” Gohan mutters, his voice hoarse from all the crying.

Bula looks softly down at her godson “That’s not what's going on at all. He’s just got it into his head that now that things are official with Videl that you don't want him anymore.”

“Why would he think that?” Gohan asks quizzically.

“That is the question.” Bulma says “I haven't been able to convince him otherwise. He won’t listen to me. But he might listen to you.”

“If you can get him to stay in a room with me for longer than ten seconds” Gohan mutters.

“You just leave that to me,” Bulma says with a sly smile on her face. “Doing that thing where you suppress your ki won’t hurt the babies will it?” She asks.

“It shouldn't” Gohan affirms “Most women who have babies have relatively low power levels.”

“Then start doing that, and I’ll get Vegeta to come out,” Bulma says 

Gohan closes his eyes and focuses on his energy and slowly brings it down. “Okay, It's lowered.” Gohan lets her know.

“Okay, I’ll go get my lughead of a husband.”

* * *

Vegeta is working under four hundred times Earth’s gravity when the room restabilizes and his wife walks in. “You know right now is scheduled to be my training time.” Vegeta grouses.

“Yeah I do, but you lose training privileges when you make Gohan cry.” Bulma insists, her arms crossed over her chest and her stance wide.

Vegeta stiffens at that. He knew Gohan was upset, But he didn’t know he was crying. “Is- Is he alright?” He asks his voice colored with concern.

“I don't think you have the right to ask that when you’re one of the reasons he was crying.” Bulma huffs.

Vegeta’s eyes widen and his arms fall to his sides. “He was crying because of me?”

“Yes, you dummy!” Bulma yells, punching him in the arm. It never hurt but he winced at the confirmation that he had hurt his would-be mate. “You’ve been avoiding him. He thinks you hate him now?”

“Hate him…” Vegeta echos.

“Yes, what was he supposed to think? You leave every room he enters.”

Vegeta winces. When it was put that way, it did sound rather bad.

“Now you have to go make it right.” Bulma points towards the main house. “Go tell him you're sorry and that you won’t do it again.”

Vegeta straightens and crosses his arms in front of himself as if he can protect himself from the words his wife is saying. “No, He doesn't need me, and he’ll see that if I stay away.”

“Ughg, you stubborn man!” Bulma exclaims, stomping her foot on the floor. “You're hurting him, not helping him, can’t you see that?” She asks.

Vegeta turns away from her and stays silent.

“Fine, Bulma says and stomps over to the center console and starts pushing buttons. “The gravity room will be disabled until you fix things with him.”

Vegeta bristles but keeps his voice level. “Fine, I’ll train with Kakarot.”

Bulma laughs “Yeah I don’t think Goku will train with you once I tell him you’re being a jerk to his son.”

Vegeta’s eyes narrow as he glares at his wife “You wouldn't.”

“Try me buster.” Bulma fumes and Vegeta sees the truth of the statement in her eyes.

He turns and leaves the gravity room without saying another word to her. He’ll call it a day for now and he can always train in the wilds. It isn’t as efficient as the gravity room, but it will have to do.

He makes his way through the compound making his way to the kitchen, he sets about making himself a sandwich and jumps when he turns around to see Gohan in the entryway. He turns around looking for an exit, but there is only one way in or out of the kitchen.

“Hey Vegeta,” Gohan says softly, “I think we should talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Vegeta replies quickly and takes a step back from Gohan, trying to put more space between them. Gohan just takes a few more steps forward and Vegeta debates rushing around him, but then Gohan is grasping his arm. Vegeta could shake him off, but that would risk hurting the younger man. He accepts his fate and settles in for a talk.

Gohan sends a tremulous smile his way and says “Let’s go to the sitting room. Standing for long periods of time hurts my back.” Then a self-deprecating look runs across his face and he laughs “Actually doing anything hurts my back right now.” Gohan pulls him along into the sitting room and Vegeta follows, unsettled by his reaction to the younger man's laugh. He hadn’t heard it in so long and the thing still filled him with a comforting warmth.

Gohan goes to sit on the couch, and Vegeta helps settle him down, then takes a seat next to him. “You’ve been avoiding me.” Gohan states. 

“I have not-” Vegeta starts but Gohan gives him a discerning look and he shuts his mouth.

“Yes you have, and Bulma told me why.” Gohan states

Vegeta grits his teeth and curses his damn meddling wife. “Then you understand why I have been scarce.”

“You know, I told Videl I had to stop our relationship the other day,” Gohan says casually, and Vegeta’s whole body freezes. He knew this was going to happen. “She asked me why I was going to do that and I told her it was because I had developed, well to put it plainly, feelings for you.” Vegeta’s whirling thoughts come to a screeching halt at that. His head whips around to stare at the younger man. Gohan smiles at him and continues “She laughed at me and told me that it was fine if I had feelings for more than one person.”

Vegeta swallows, his mouth suddenly dry, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. “When you say feelings…” Vegeta says, not daring to hope.

Gohan is silent for a long moment, then he moves his hand to rest over Vegeta’s on the couch. “I have looked up to you for a long time Vegeta. When my Dad left you were the only male role model I had left. I saw how you took care of Trunks and Bulma. How you trained your hardest, and how Proud you were.” Gohan looks at him and Vegeta is afraid Gohan will see exactly how much he is feeling, that his eyes will betray him, but he is also afraid to look away. “I think I’ve had feelings for you a long time, but with everything that’s happened, they’ve grown. I’ve grown to” Gohan trails off and finally looks away and breaks the eye contact they've had for this conversation, and suddenly, Vegeta wants it back desperately. He needs to know if Gohan is serious. The younger man takes a deep breath and continues. “I think I love you Vegeta.” He says in a voice that cuts through the silence in the room.

Vegeta’s brain short circuits for a moment. He knows that Bulma has come to love him in the years they’ve been together, He knows that Trunks loves him, but the thought that someone else could come to love him is almost unthinkable. Yet Gohan is not known to lie, the man is almost always truthful, and on top of that, he is a terrible liar. Vegeta would know if this was a lie. He turns his hand over and squeezes the hand that was on top of his. He is not good with words, and even worse with feelings, but he knows this declaration needs to be met. “I, I have feelings for you as well.” It is the best that he can do. Hopefully, Gohan, the genius that he is, will be able to see what he means. The younger man turns back to look at him and what he sees Vegeta doesn't know, but slowly a heartfelt smile spreads across his face and he squeezes back.

“Now that that is all cleared up, would you mind spending some time with me?” Gohan asks.

“I told you that anything you needed I would provide and that still stands.” Vegeta declares.

“Can you just hold me for a while? I’ve been lonely with Videl gone and you avoiding me.” Gohan admits, and a stab of guilt pierces Vegeta. He pulls Gohan and pulls him close to him and wraps his arm around him. 

“Of course.” He breathes, “You need only ask.” They sit that way for a long time. Long enough that Gohan falls asleep in his arms, and still Vegeta stays there. Eventually, Bulma walks into the room and sees them, Gohan asleep in Vegeta’s arms, and she coos at the sight. Vegeta scowls but doesn't say anything. 

Bulma walks over to him and says “So I see you finally had a talk.”

“Yes, we did.” He grunts.

“And you found out that I was right again,” Bulma asks

“Fine you were right,” Vegeta admits “does that make you happy.” 

‘Why yes, you admitting it does make me very happy!” She crows.

“Shhh, Don’t wake him!” Vegeta growls.

Bulma mimes zipping her lips.” I’ll be quiet as a mouse.” Then she winks at her husband and leaves the room.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So here is chapter one, I plan on posting a chapter a week so I have time to write, I already have chapter two done and it is explicit, so look forward to that.
> 
> I am in the market for a beta reader, so let me know if you are interested in that!


End file.
